Towards an Anthropology of Action: André-Georges Haudricourt and Technical Efficacy

This text is a translation in English of : Ferret, Carole "Vers une anthropologie de l'action. André-Georges Haudricourt et l'efficacité technique", L'Homme 202 (2), 2012, p. 113-139. It was published in 2015 and is available on line here : http://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_LHOM_202_0113--toward-an-anthropology-of-action.htmInternational audienceIn writings between 1949 and 1995, André-Georges Haudricourt (1911–1996) formulated the idea of an opposition between pastoralists and gardeners. Several authors have discussed the specific Chinese conception of efficacy. In this paper, my aim is to address and rework Haudricourt’s distinction between direct positive action and indirect negative action, in order to found an anthropology of action. The study of horse-herding techniques among the Yakuts in Siberia, an Eastern but nonetheless pastoral civilization, provides an opportunity for developing and enriching this typology by distinguishing between operations and manipulations; passive and interventionist actions; endogenous, exogenous, and participative actions; and continuous and discontinuous actions. By focusing on how human actions actually function, we can compare the ways of handling nature and of handling people through the examination of modes of action