Peut-il y avoir une logique de l'action ?

Is there anything like Logic of Action? This paper deals with conceptions ofac- tion which consider it was being priorily devoted not to manipulate a granted-as- given reality for strategical goals, but to create new realities. Above all, acting is making and by such modifying reality along unpredictable lines. Other perspectives than the conventional ones can be obtained in that direction, in connection with: the situatedness of action; its collective dimension and the nature of the common good involved in it ; the peculiarities of things on which action rests. For that purpose, the author surveys four recently published books, concerning respectively: the making of statistical instruments (A. Desrosières); the action of the State in search of its own subsidiarity (Ch. Millon- Delsol); the conceptual categories supporting legal statements in labour law (A. Supiot); the practical knowledge produced in engineering activities (H. Vérin).«Unofficial» Political Practices. Patronage and Political Dualism in Corsica and Southern Italy Contrary to the conception of political «dualism» as the effect of «ongoing tradition» in social contexts «undergoing modernization», unofficial practices (patronage, instrumental friendships) play a role in the workings of official institutions involved in modernization (State bureaucracies, parties of the mass). Because they are depreciated in relation to the dominant models of legitimate politics, certain practices are led to withdraw to the unofficial arenas of the political domain. With a view toward understanding the actual processes involved in «political development», the history of this withdrawal and of the actual practices of «modern» political institutions are traced in the case of Corsica and Southern Italy.■ Robert Salais : Peut-il y avoir une logique de l'action? L'article explore les conceptions de l'action, en sciences sociales, qui s'écartent d'une interprétation en terme de manipulation stratégique d'un donné, mais considèrent en revanche qu'agir, c'est faire. Ainsi obtient-on d'autres vues du caractère situé de l'action, de sa dimension collective et du bien commun qu'elle implique, de la singularité des choses sur lesquelles elle s'appuie. Quatre livres récents sont étudiés dans cette perspective, dans les domaines suivants : la production des outils statistiques (Alain Desrosières) ; l'action de l'État dans une perspective de subsidiarité (Chantai Mil- lon-Delsol) ; les catégories du juegement en droit du travail (Alain Supiot) ; l'intelligence technique (Hélène Vérin).Salais Robert. Peut-il y avoir une logique de l'action ?. In: Genèses, 20, 1995. Histoire politique, histoire du politique, sous la direction de Christian Topalov . pp. 155-166