Research

The main mission of the CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences is to promote and disseminate the latest discoveries in the humanities and social sciences in open access. Its researchers produce an average of 6500 scientific publications per year. With its partners, the Institute develops and jointly runs transversal research networks throughout France.

Strategy

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences is committed to research that is interdisciplinary and international and also attentive to the principles of open science. The Institute also manages major research infrastructures for the whole national humanities and social sciences research community.

Defining and supporting scientific priorities

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences defines and supports scientific priorities through dialogue with its Scientific Council, the sections of the National Committee for Scientific Research (CoNRS) and, more broadly, the research communities involved in its research units and networks. The Institute's work is also based on the objectives set out in the CNRS Objectives and Performance Contract (COP).

By their very nature, these priorities are constantly evolving but their definition in the COP makes it possible to effectively direct the scientific policy of CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences for several years or longer. For example, currently CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences particularly supports archaeology and anthropology and is coordinating a major ancient sciences research programme. CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences is also committed to reinforcing certain methodological approaches such as those implemented in areal studies, shared sciences, digital humanities, conceptualisation and formalisation, qualitative and quantitative data analysis and finally experimentation. Finally, CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences supports and promotes the development of research into subjects like health, the planet's habitability, digital transitions, educational inequalities and artificial intelligence.

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences also works on developing collective foresight thinking and therefore from 2022 onwards it has been taking part in, co-organising and designing foresight conferences while supporting foresight networks and so forth.

Beyond the above-defined priorities, CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences organises or supports multidisciplinary humanities and social sciences communities united by common research topics. Please see this website's Humanities and Social Sciences Research Portal section.

Encouraging international research

The CNRS humanities & social Sciences has prioritized the internationalization of its scientific communities' research as have the other nine scientific directions. It implements this policy through a variety of initiatives and projects. In particular, the Institute encourages its staff to interact with scientific communities in countries with a long tradition of research as well as in scientifically emerging countries.

To achieve this, the CNRS humanities & social Sciences has created several International Research Laboratories (IRLs). With the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the CNRS humanities & social Sciences jointly steers an exceptional network of International Research Laboratories (Umifre). The Institute also provides financial support for the international mobility of many researchers. It encourages their participation in International Emerging Actions (IEAs), International Research Networks (IRNs) and International Research Projects (IRPs).

The Institute's commitment to interdisciplinarity at the CNRS

The CNRS humanities & social Sciences works in harmony with the approach involving exchanges and cross-disciplinary research defined by the CNRS's Mission for Transversal and Interdisciplinary Initiatives (MITI).

For example, the Institute works on joint research projects on the brain, cognition and behaviour with the CNRS Biology. The CNRS humanities & social Sciences also runs projects with the CNRS Ecology and Environment which study the relationships between human beings and their environments involving research units that are steered or jointly steered by the Institute. It also encourages its researchers to interact with the fields of computer and engineering sciences.

The CNRS MITI

Supporting national research infrastructures

Access to digital data is both an asset and a challenge for the CNRS humanities & social Sciencesbecause it promotes interdisciplinarity. Research Infrastructures (IRs) specializing in the humanities and social sciences make the best use of these massive data flows.

This is particularly the case of two Very Large-Scale Research Infrastructures (TGIRs) whose national roll-out is actively supported by the CNRS humanities & social Sciences : 

  • Progedo which aims to speed up the production and management of data in universities;
  • Huma-Num ("Humanités numériques", Digital Humanities) which offers collective data storage, processing interoperability and dissemination services.

They work in conjunction with the National Network of Houses of Human Sciences (RNMSH)which brings together and coordinates the research of 23 establishments in France. Today, the RNMSH has become the prime meeting place for partnerships and exchanges between universities, organizations and local authorities.

The HCERES evaluation of the CNRS

For the HCERES evaluation of the CNRS, CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences produced an analysis for the reference period (2017-2021) of the CNRS evaluation that was based on data on scientific production in the humanities and social sciences. Scientific publications were initially analysed according to their typology. We also paid particular attention to the issue of open access publishing (part II) and multilingualism in scientific publications (part III). Finally, we wished to highlight the forms of multidisciplinarity that exist within the HSS. The editorial in the January 2023 'InsHS Newsletter' gave a summary of the main points.

Humanities and social sciences research portal

This CNRS Research Portal for the Humanities and Social Sciences presents the disciplinary areas, methods and objects or themes that make up the major foundations of all research carried out in the units (co-)steered by the CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences in France and abroad. It also presents : the national and international networks that are (co-)steered, national research programmes, chairs, post-doctoral positions funded by CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences, humanities and social sciences research infrastructures the CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences manages or is involved in or European infrastructures it is also involved in.

For each subject, the associated UN sustainable development objectives are indicated when applicable.

Disciplinary areas

Methodological approaches and issues

Objects and themes

Scientific initiatives and research programmes

The scientific initiatives and research programmes presented below are major tools for the implementation of the scientific policy defined by CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences. They involve humanities and social sciences research issues that are often transversal and sometimes linked to interdisciplinary interfaces. These tools receive specific funding, are developed over a period of several years and enable research communities to be structured nationally and internationally.

Priority Research Programmes and Equipments (PEPRs)

In the framework of France's 'Investments for the Future programme 4', the CNRS is involved in the management of priority research programmes and equipments and the research components of national acceleration strategies. CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences is fully committed to this process.

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The France-Quebec COLIBEX Research Chair on Contemporary Issues of Freedom of Expression (CNRS/FRQ)

The definition, uses and limits of freedom of expression in Western societies and worldwide have long been the subject of philosophical, legal and political debate. Current challenges to the legacy of the Enlightenment make it essential to understand why, for what purposes and in which contexts freedom of expression was viewed as an ideal for knowledge and also as a political principle. It is similarly essential to understand how this has been regulated by the different political regimes that have recognised freedom of expression to shed light on the contemporary era's normative frameworks and practices in this area. Study is also essential of new issues springing up in fields such as science, religion, the arts, and the new dissemination channels developing on the Internet.

This Chair is organised on the basis of transnational networks and will focus on four main themes. The first is of a general nature and will deal with the issue of regulating freedom of expression in the light of fundamental human rights and democracy. The other three will more specifically cover the relationship between freedom of expression and religion, science and art.

The programme's subject areas were developed by a bilateral France-Québec committee coordinated by Gisèle Sapiro and Geneviève Nootens and made up of Véronique Champeil-Desplats, Yvan Leclerc, Michaël La Chance and Louis-Philippe Lampron. The subject areas were then completed through consultation with those responsible for them.

The French team has created a Scientific Board made up of:

  • Véronique Champeil (professor of law, University Paris Nanterre)
  • Christophe Charle (emeritus professor of modern and contemporary history, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
  • Eric de Chassey (professor of art history, director general of the National Institute for Art History, INHA)
  • Yvan Leclerc (professor emeritus of modern literature, University of Rouen)
  • Dominique Lagorgette (professor of language sciences, Université Savoie Mont Blanc)
  • Gloria Origgi (CNRS research professor, Institut Jean-Nicod)
  • Gisèle Sapiro (CNRS research professor, director of studies at the EHESS's [School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences] European Centre for Sociology and Political Science [CESSP]). Gisèle Sapiro is the scientific coordinator of the COLIBEX chair.

The CNRS has allocated a 24-month post-doctorate (law, CESSP) and a 36-month doctoral contract (political science, PRINTEMPS laboratory) to support this research project.

Theme 1 - How should freedom of expression, democracy and fundamental human rights be regulated?

Thomas Hochmann (University Paris Nanterre), Pierre Rainville (University Laval)

Freedom of expression and its conditions, forms and violations are essential subjects for researchers studying democracies and authoritarian regimes in terms of legal and political principles (particularly freedom of thought and the free flow of information) or from a socio-historical standpoint. Study of freedom of expression inevitably brings up questions about its limits and the ways these are legitimised. Freedom of expression is considered as a political and legal issue here because it is both a social norm and an object of law. These two dynamics often come into conflict, particularly on social networks, which means we then need to consider the relationship between the law and other forms of regulation.

Having thus linked freedom of expression to legal systems and forms of government the subject is then studied using approaches based on a specific national or regional context (European, North American) or comparatively. Study of freedom of expression intersects with other issues like discrimination (of individuals and groups), conflicts of memory and finally justice. Freedom of expression is severely limited by authoritarian regimes which do not allow people to express opinions publicly that are contrary to official policy. Democratic countries' legal systems can consider certain uses of freedom of expression to constitute an incitation to commit a crime or offence. Democracies also limit the impact certain comments and images may have on the rights of third parties, particularly individuals (defamation), groups (racism, anti-Semitism, sexism) or official representatives of the State. The issue of regulation - in the case of hate speech or fake news for example - is even more relevant as regards the Internet which is generally not subject to existing legal frameworks. On the Internet, regulation approaches range from the Chinese authorities' censorship and control approach on the one hand and absolute freedom as posited by Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, on the other. One of the major issues at stake is the hybrid nature of social networks which are controlled by private interests that decide on the algorithms that guide 'conversations' despite being an integral part of public debate.  

Voices are also being raised - particularly those of far right observers - against restrictions that aim to protect vulnerable groups and individuals from the power of speech or image. This is sometimes paradoxically expressed through rhetoric that actually turns freedom of expression against individuals in situations of vulnerability or discrimination.

Finally, states of emergency restrict certain public and individual freedoms, particularly through anti-terrorism measures that in turn affect freedom of expression.

Theme 2 - Freedom of expression, religious beliefs and identity

Hanane Karimi (University of Strasbourg), Solange Lefebvre (University of Montréal) 

This research theme concentrates on two areas of complex social, political and legal debate. The first covers democratic societies' relationships with religious beliefs while the second deals with the sensitive nature of controversies concerning the treatment of minorities.

The historically recognised monotheistic religions have always restricted freedom of expression within their societies and publicly combated heresies they defined themselves to impose their own dogmas and worldview. Paradoxically, these religions have always also allowed the development of sometimes critical philosophical thought and exegesis which requires constant intellectual practice. The legal status of these religions can range from state religion through majority religion in a secular regime, minority religion (in a religious or secular state), to a religion or belief that is forbidden a religious or secular state (sects, for example). Depending on this status, the normative framework and ethical standards, religions can be 'protected' from blasphemy and insults to varying degrees. Religions can of course constitute an instrument for the repression of freedoms as in Afghanistan today or as used by the Inquisition in the past) but can also convey messages of tolerance and openness to intercultural dialogue and adjust to democratic rules on freedom of expression. However the terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo journalists and the French teacher Samuel Paty perpetrated by radical Islamists in response to cartoons depicting the Prophet have brought up the issues of the conditions for freedom of expression and criticism and the dangers those who use these freedoms may face in consequence. More generally, this aspect opens up the questions of orthodoxies and heterodoxies and of the way secularised societies think about the relationship with beliefs.

On the other hand, while there is no denying that real issues of equality and inclusion underpin controversies about our regard for diversity, the purpose of freedom of expression is to protect the dissemination of critical ideas including ideas that may shock and disturb people. This means freedom of expression cannot be limited solely on the basis of other people's sensitivities or their right not to be offended. Again, this brings up the question of authority. Who has the authority to say what and who has the authority to limit speech?

Theme 3 - Knowledge, science and freedom of expression

Thibaud Boncourt (Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University), Maryse Potvin (UQAM)

Freedom of expression is also directly relevant to the production and dissemination of knowledge. Firstly it seems inherent to the scientific process insofar as it creates the conditions for the multiplication of hypotheses, the emergence of controversies and the accumulation of knowledge. Freedom of expression also plays a role in the dissemination of knowledge within the academic sphere in the framework of educational activities and also in other social contexts. In this way, the concept is linked to academic freedom understood as a right specific to those working in this sphere, enshrined in international law, and guaranteeing academics' freedom in teaching or research and of expression.

In recent times, these freedoms have been questioned by various different processes. In so-called 'illiberal' regimes, entire fields of research (like gender studies) and academic institutions (the Central European University in Budapest, for example) have been the target of bans or drastic restrictions. In more democratic contexts, academics and the knowledge they produce have also come under attack in a variety of ways - cuts to funding, legal procedures (bailiffs, libel suits), smear campaigns, disinformation and so forth. New regulations have also created a stricter framework for researchers' professional practices, for example by controlling their ethical nature and integrity.

These forms of limiting and supervising academic freedom are implemented by a variety of stakeholders and have equally diverse purposes. They may be imposed by academics themselves who develop new practices or structures to control their colleagues' activities and denounce those they consider 'deviant'. They can result from political and politicised stakeholders using various means to limit the development of certain research fields. The media, the courts or citizens at large may also be involved in controversies or highly publicised 'cases'.

These ongoing changes need to be viewed in the context of the concomitant development of other systems of truth-telling. Various groups that may be thought of value (as 'alternative', for example) or alternatively stigmatised (as 'conspiracy theorists', for example) are claiming their right to freedom of expression to put forward other ways of producing knowledge outside the more reputed institutions. The issue of freedom of expression is therefore closely linked to the struggle for the social construction of 'the truth'.

Theme 4 - Censorship and creation

Anna Arzoumanov (Sorbonne University), Mathilde Barraband (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières)

The freedom of artistic expression is the fruit of a long history of struggle for creative autonomy. Women writers have historically been at the forefront of such struggles. The history of their confrontations with secular or religious courts and their use of coded language to get round censorship make up a collective memory on which the ethics of modern and contemporary creators are based even if these may also be found on the side of the censors. In this respect, the fatwaissued against Salman Rushdie for his Satanic Verses in 1989 and the subsequent assassination attempt represent a new type of threat to a freedom that was seemingly taken for granted in liberal democracies. And yet the history of literature and the arts is full of examples of artistic and literary productions causing controversy or being censored because they were considered blasphemous, licentious, dangerous to society, too 'crude', 'obscene', insulting or hateful. This raises a number of issues including the specific nature of freedom of expression in works, indirect representation and the responsibility of the author, the effect of literalisation and more generally the meaning that should be accorded to artistic gestures. Obviously this also raises the question (as in the other themes of the chair) of who is qualified to act as a censor along with the issue of the instrumentalisation of art.

Some people argue that creative freedom should be defined as distinct from freedom of expression, citing the rights of fiction which are still often recognised by courts.

However this also brings up the issue of people using fiction to convey racist, anti-Semitic or sexist (and so forth) messages that are prohibited in the public arena. Furthermore, freedom of artistic expression is still severely limited by defamation law and the protection of privacy which even applies in the case of fiction and also by legislation that protects minors and prohibits paedophile discourse and depictions.

More generally, debate about artistic exception is ongoing and all these debates deserve to be analysed as such. The privileged status accorded to fiction does not mean the debate on art, its scope or its relationship with reality is over as has been observed for other forms of artistic expression.

Going further

  • A France-Quebec chair on freedom of expression, 'Savoir(s)', the University of Strasbourg's daily newsletter

  • A France-Quebec chair on freedom of expression: 'L’ouverture sur la société civile est fondamentale' (Openness to civil society is fundamental)

  • Creation of a collective France-Quebec research chair on freedom of expression

SOSI - Open Monitoring of Societies and their Interactions

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences (co-)steers over 200 research units and nearly 300 research structures. The Institute has also promoted and encouraged the emergence of research networks for several years both nationally and internationally. These foresight or thematic networks are made up of both joint research units (UMRs) and research units (URs).

 

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CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences also has a policy of providing priority support for long-term studies or investigations focusing on a number of scientific and social issues that are in line with the scientific priorities of the Institute. Indeed, these kinds of long-term formats are necessary to effectively study certain subjects by developing in-depth and/or diachronic analyses of social, economic, political and cultural dynamics, etc. This includes issues linked to contemporary events.

This form of long-term support is intended to ensure the continuity of the research carried out. This enables research communities to avoid having to move from one call for projects (CFP) to the next, adapt their chosen study issues to fit into the framework of successive CFPs and enables their research to develop without interruptions. It is also intended to help structure sustainable and stable research and research engineering communities.

To achieve this, since 2021 CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences has been developing SOSI (Open Monitoring of Societies and their Interactions) projects. These are forms of accompaniment and support for long-term research studies or surveys in the humanities and social sciences. In some cases, these SOSIs can be located on a dedicated geographical/institutional site to respond to the requirements of the research project and systematically basing themselves on configurations of stakeholders (inhabitants, territorial/local authorities, associations, professionals, artistic community, etc.). Surveys carried out in this way produce scientific results made available to a non-academic audience through an open access database, online encyclopaedia, etc.

SOSIs can involve several research teams from the HSS and even beyond these fields if the research question justifies it along with several disciplinary skill sets. It particularly makes it possible to forge cross-disciplinary links between disciplines and research centres to work on a common subject. Surveys can be based on different types of sources such as archives, administrative data, ethnographic observations or interviews. The scenario envisaged for a SOSI is that 3 to 5 teams should work together on a common research question with dedicated scientific coordination. The format for managing this association of teams can vary which can, for example, be led by a flagship UMR, a research federation or a platform.

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences can provide financial support or human resources, depending on the requirements identified and discussed with the SOSI's coordinators. Applicants for this funding can also seek other sources of financial support and are actually encouraged to do so. The SOSI could, for example, help finance just one aspect of the project and thereby ensure the continuity of the project as a whole. This support and the renewal thereof are subject to annual arbitration by CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences in the first quarter of each year. The SOSIs selected for support work on subjects that come under the disciplinary, methodological or thematic scientific priorities of CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences and areas of research that make up the major foundations of the research carried out in the units co-steered by the Institute (https://www.inshs.cnrs.fr/fr/le-portail-des-recherches-en-sciences-humaines-et-sociales).

The research supported is presented on CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences website (https://www.inshs.cnrs.fr/fr/sosi-suivi-ouvert-des-societes-et-de-leurs-interactions). CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences may contact SOSI coordinators to request a contribution to the Institute's newsletter.

Monitoring and coordination at CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences: Fabrice Boudjaaba

Macroscopes for the analysis of social, opinion and value dynamics in digital worlds

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Evolution of the importance of different climate activist communities over time and in reaction to events (Oct. 2019 - June 2020). Each tube corresponds to a community of activists. The thickness of a tube is proportional to the number of activists belonging to that community. The main figure corresponds to the moment the COVID-19 pandemic became the focal point of world news which mechanically caused a drop in activity for climate-related exchanges, thus illustrating the phenomenon of limited collective attention at the global level. This part is an enlargement of the part of the upper diagram surrounded by dotted lines and labelled 'COVID-19'. This upper diagram shows several flurries of activity that correspond to climate summits or important political moments like the 2020 US presidential election.
Data source: Multivac/climatoscope.
Source of visualisation: Chavalarias, D., Bouchaud, P., Chomel, V., Panahi, M., 2023. Les nouveaux fronts du dénialisme et du climato-scepticisme. https://hal.science/hal-03986798

How can data from digital worlds be used to understand the long-term evolution of national opinion and value dynamics and what lessons can be drawn from this as regards radicalisation, polarisation and disinformation phenomena? How do the major digital platforms influence forms of socialisation and what impact does this have on social groups?

The objective of this SOSI is to study and thus understand the phenomena of cultural and social change over very long periods (fifteen to twenty years) using data with individual- and minute-level granularity and observations of digital environments.

The SOSI aims to enable and support in-depth diachronic analysis of social, political and cultural dynamics. This will include shedding light on contemporary events through global and longitudinal studies using data (formalisation, quantification, modelling and simulation). Long-term data from digital worlds (e.g. Twitter, Mastodon, YouTube) will be collected and shared while collaborative analysis and visualisation environments and macroscopes will be produced.

Macroscopes were introduced by Joël de Rosnay in 1975 and are the equivalent of microscopes in biology for study of the social sphere. These are tools for observing collectives formed by human beings in an overall and reflective manner. These devices can be used to navigate interactively through large structured sets of 'social traces', provide a synthetic view of a collective phenomenon and make it possible to explore the details of a phenomenon at the micro level (entities and interactions). They are essential intermediary tools for linking social science models with field data.

This SOSI's work relies on the 'Multivac' infrastructure run by the Institut des Systèmes Complexes de Paris Île-de-France(ISC-PIF, UAR3611, CNRS) and also on national computing centres like the Laboratory of the Physics of the Two Infinities - Irène Joliot-Curie (IJCLab, UMR9012, CNRS / Paris-Saclay University) to roll out infrastructures in the cloud.

Its components are:

  • non-stop streaming data collection (several tens of millions of records per day);
  • data storage on distributed environments (Haddop cluster, HDFS);
  • large-scale data indexing;
  • the development of analysis environments and collaborative code on data;
  • the restitution and interrogation of data via REST APIs for the academic community and the development of mobile applications for the general public.

This SOSI will enable researchers from a broad and diverse range of disciplines to work together on joint projects. Researchers from the following laboratories have used Multiva for their work: Langues, Textes, Traitements informatiques, Cognition (LATTICE, UMR8094, CNRS / ENS-PSL / Université Sorbonne Nouvelle) laboratory, the Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS, UMR7006, CNRS / University de Strasbourg) ISIS (STS), the Centre for Research on Medicine, Science, Health, Mental Health and Society (CERMES3, UMR8211, CNRS / Inserm / Université Paris Cité), the LIP6 (UMR7606, CNRS / Sorbonne University), the Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse (IRIT, UMR5505, CNRS / Toulouse INP / Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier) and the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and Modelling (LPTM, UMR8089, CNRS / CY Cergy Paris University).

Porteur(s) : Institut des Systèmes Complexes de Paris ÎdF (ISC-PIF), Paris 13.
Responsable Scientifique : David Chavalarias, CNRS (CAMS & ISC-PIF).         
Responsable d’infrastructure: Maziyar Panahi (CNRS/ISC-PIF).

Micro-simulation of public policies (TAXIPP)

The impact of many public policies depends on how these affect populations in all their diversity (socio-economic level, location, demographic composition, type of housing, etc.). The micro-simulation approach enables researchers to use a representative sample and information on each individual or household within a given population to construct that population statistically in its full diversity. Public policies can then be simulated using models representing their current state or potential changes so that their impact on the population as a whole can be tested.

The micro-simulation approach to public policy analysis has brought about the development of three areas of research:

  • The first is statistical analysis used here to construct a complete and detailed representation of the population analysed. This can include data matching, data fusion techniques or incorporating information from household surveys into administratively collected data.
  • The second is modelling public policies which here involves developing algorithms to simulate different types of public intervention. Most often the subject of such simulations is the social and fiscal system but public spending, regulations and standards can also be modelled.
  • Finally, the third area is modelling behavioural responses to policy changes and more specifically modelling the extent of people's reactions to incentives or obligations included in public policies. The state of the art in this area involves measuring the sensitivity of responses (i.e. elasticities) to policy changes on the basis of past experience and then including a behavioural module in the micro-simulation model.

This project's objective is to support the development of the TAXIPP micro-simulation model currently being developed at the Institut des Politiques Publiques (IPP), a research centre dedicated to the analysis and evaluation of public policies. The IPP is the fruit of a partnership between the Paris School of Economics (PSE) and the Group of National Economics and Statistics Schools (GENES). This collaborative project involves researchers from the Paris Jourdan Economics Unit (CNRS, Inrae, EHESS, ENPC, ENS-PSL, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) and the Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST - CNRS, ENSAE Paris, ENSAI, École Polytechnique).

This open source model can be used by all researchers requiring a detailed model of the socio-fiscal system. It currently covers social and fiscal policies aimed at households such as compulsory deductions like income tax or social security contributions and also social benefits like family housing or minimum social benefits. It is based on a whole range of exhaustive administrative sources that are statistically matched to each other and linked to an open-access, collaborative socio-tax simulator (OpenFisca). This simulator calculates the compulsory deductions and social benefits which each individual in the data is subject to while also taking into account their characteristics and any legislation currently being studied in the current or reformed system.

Researchers can use this model to deduce the effects of a reform on public revenue and expenditure, its redistributive effects and a socio-fiscal system's redistributive characteristics at a given point in time. This kind of model can also be used to calculate the degree of potential exposure to a reform of all individuals and compare this exposure with changes in these individuals' behaviour.

This tool constitutes an infrastructure that can be used in the framework of a wide range of research projects studying the French redistribution system. More broadly, it can be used for developments in micro-simulation in other areas of public policy like environmental policy, health, transport, education and so forth. The objective of this project is to make this model accessible to as many people as possible while extending its use and development prospects. Detailed documentation and the source code for the latest version of the model are available online.

Porteur : Antoine Bozio, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) / PSE-École d’Économie de Paris / Institut des politiques publiques (IPP)

Observatory of the history of the French population: large-scale databases and artificial intelligence

Large-scale databases are one of quantitative history's essential tools, particularly for the study of historical demography. However this requires a mass of data to be managed that is often difficult for research teams to control using traditional data collection methods. Very recent advances in artificial intelligence and Deep Learning have enabled historical demographers to collect information automatically. The major advantage of these techniques for the creation of historical demography databases, apart from the obvious savings in time, is that researchers can study larger populations, particularly on those of large cities, which have long been neglected, especially for the 19th and 20th centuries.

The aim of the 'Observatoire de l'histoire de la population française: grandes bases de données et intelligence artificielle' (Observatory of the history of the French population: large-scale databases and artificial intelligence) SOSI is to help construct, finalise, conserve, disseminate and use historical surveys on the French population in a sustainable manner. The project has four stated objectives:

  1. The first of these objectives is to support projects with current funding to construct databases of historical demographics using artificial intelligence so that databases can survive over the long term. Often, funded projects are able to create databases but the research teams rarely have the time required to exploit them fully or maintain them longer than the duration of the funded project.
  2. The second objective is to enable technology to be transferred to two types of survey. The first type is surveys that aim to use artificial intelligence to construct a large database of historical demographics. The second type is surveys launched in the 2000s and 2010s or even earlier that used the traditional manual data entry method. The aim is to avoid losing the considerable amount of existing work.
  3. The third objective is to document, preserve and disseminate the Observatory's surveys in conjunction with IR* Progedo (a research infrastructure).
  4. The final objective is to create and foster a scientific dynamic around historical demography databases by providing the SOSI teams with the right tools and knowledge to construct new databases. Eventually this positive dynamic should also enable some of these databases to be linked and thus become interoperable.

The SOSI ObHisPop is supporting seven studies:

  • POPP: Project for the Oceration of the Paris Population Census (1926-1946) (LARHRA; LITIS/NORMASTIC)
  • EXO-POPP: Optical Extraction of Handwritten Named Entities for the Marriage Certificates of the Population of Paris (1880-1940) –(LARHRA; LITIS /NORMASTIC)
  • The Population of Charleville From the Late-17th Century to the Late-19th Century (CRM)
  • POPSTRAS: Océrisation du Fichier Domiciliaire pour une histoire démographique de Strasbourg (1871-1939) (Oceration of the Household Records for a Demographic History of Strasbourg - SAGE; IDEAS)
  • Survey of the population of Belfort (FEMTO-ST; CIAD)
  • GENPAR survey (CRM)
  • Teams from the 'Ineqkill' and 'EPIBEL' projects (Catholic University of Leuven and Ghent University).

Porteuse : Sandra Brée, chargé de recherche CNRS, Laboratoire de Recherche Rhône-Alpes (LARHRA).

Heritage Observatory of the Pacific Experiment Centre (CEP)

The declassification of government archives on nuclear testing in Polynesia has paved the way for a new phase in socio-historical research into this testing. CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences has set up an investigative project under the scientific direction of the historian Renaud Meltz. Mr Meltz was already involved in a research programme on the Pacific Experiment Centre's history ('Histoire et mémoires du CEP', 2018-2021) which led to the publication of a multidisciplinary book - 'Des bombes en Polynésie. Les essais nucléaires français dans le Pacifique', Vendémiaire, 2022. This new initiative is part of a broader overall project coordinated with CNRS Earth & Space, CNRS Ecology & Environment and CNRS Nuclei & Particles that focuses on examples of upheaval in societies and ecosystems caused by global change or certain events. This study project focuses on the health and socio-cultural legacies of the nuclear tests carried out between 1966 and 1996 on Moruroa and Fangataufa. The project is hosted by the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme du Pacifique (MSH-P, UAR2503, CNRS/University of French Polynesia).

A socio-history of the health of Polynesians and CEP veterans

This project's work is based on declassified government archives, the living archives of the nuclear test sites' monitoring department and the accounts of test veterans and local residents. Its aim is to reconstruct the system set up by the military and civilian authorities to monitor the health aspects of these nuclear tests. This ranges from the health inventory drawn up before the first tests to the implementation of the tests and the monitoring of the tests' consequences. How did this system deal with health and environmental effects - from the prevention and risk information policy through to treatment and including measuring exposure to fallout? The project also looks into ordinary military medicine for people who lived near the test sites run from the base at Hao and the legacy it has left in terms of access to healthcare in Polynesia today.

The study will examine the way in which health policies were rolled out in three locations and confronted with the social factors of exposure to radiation. The locations are a navy building that housed European and Polynesian operators during the tests, an inhabited atoll near Moruroa and a district of the Société archipelago. The survey will be both prosopographical and biographical, involving the life stories of veterans chosen on the basis of the diversity of their profiles and experiences linked to the CEP.

This socio-history of health broadens the spectrum of the legacies of these tests to move beyond the radioactive fallout alone to study changes in people's lifestyles, diets and relationships with their environment. It also deals with the Polynesian health system after the closure of the CEP. This event transformed the system from a state and military regime into a civilian and territorial organisation within the framework defined by the territory's autonomous status and faced with the other health challenges the CEP induced indirectly.

The socio-cultural impact of nuclear Polynesia

The aim of this project is to document the socio-cultural impact of the CEP along with the linguistic, geographical and socio-economic issues involved. PhD students and/or postdoctoral fellows working on the project will document the legacy of the CEP on two scales. A socio-history of the migrations the CEP led to on the scale of French Polynesia (FP) will be developed with the aim of creating a database of inter-island flows since the beginning of the CEP project in 1963. This will make it possible to develop a typology of labour migrations in three dimensions:

  • historical: the first entry into the workforce or before this in phosphate mining or another field,
  • economic: the type and duration of employment contract, skills, etc.
  • geographical: commuting, permanent migration, changing islands within French Polynesia or even the Pacific with New Caledonia, to France or even Europe (Portuguese workers).

We will target relevant areas in the Papeete urban area and one or more initial areas (Australes, Marquises, etc.), aiming to carry out a second qualitative study at the level of local neighbourhoods.

Finally, we put forward the idea that the CEP's socio-cultural impacts will be better understood within a broader framework that enables movements of things, people and ideas to be taken into account. This expanded framework means we can compare the different test sites - from the choice of the Polynesian site in the context of the already nuclearised Pacific zone to the processes of recognition and compensation for the test victims. Ultimately, the SOSI's objective is to carry out a comparative study of the CEP's legacy with reference to the tests carried out in the Pacific by the US and the UK and covering issues ranging from the choice of site to compensation for victims.

Porteur : Renaud Meltz, université de Haute-Alsace, Centre de recherches sur les économies, les sociétés, les arts et les techniques (CRESAT), Maison des Sciences de l'Homme du Pacifique

Observatory of environmental and occupational diseases in the 'Lyon chemical valley'

The project follows on from participatory environment-work health surveys. Its objective is to set up an observatory of environmental and occupational diseases in the Rhône-Alpes region and more specifically in the industrial area of Lyon known as the 'Lyon Chemical Valley'. This zone runs along the banks of Rhône River and includes around fifteen municipalities stretching from Lyon to the border with the Isère region.

This is one of the largest industrial areas in France and yet the impact of this industrial activity on the health of local residents and site employees is still very much understudied. In fact, there is only one departmental cancer register (for Isère) for the whole Rhône-Alpes region. Also in the studies of health risks in French industrial areas listed by Santé Publique France data is rare on air pollution levels in the southern Lyon area. And this despite the fact the 'chemical valley' houses hundreds of former polluted sites and dangerous polluting facilities that are still in operation. Indeed several of these are classified as Seveso sites. The area has suffered pollution and several industrial catastrophes including the Feyzin disaster in January 1966 (an explosion at the refinery that killed 18 people), pollution of the Rhône (acrolein in 1976, hydroquinone at the start of the 1980s and recurring PCB incidents from the 1970s to 2010) and the 1987 fire at the Édouard Herriot port.

The Observatory will have three functions:

  • To take stock of existing scientific knowledge, health standards and collective actions linked to this knowledge. This area was the subject of several health and environmental campaigns in the 1970s but these became significantly less frequent from the 1980s onwards
  • To analyse the reasons for the comparative failure to produce and disseminate knowledge and to take public responsibility for many of the health problems we associate with industrial pollution
  • To jointly produce participatory health data by constructing a multidisciplinary research team involving sociology, political science, toxicology, epidemiology, geography and history specialists.

Porteurs : Gwenola Le Naour, Sciences Po Lyon, Valentin Thomas, Sciences Po Lyon / Institut universitaire européen de Florence ; Triangle (CNRS / ENS Lyon / Sciences Po Lyon / Université Lumière Lyon 2)

Transdisciplinary observatory of environmental and social changes in the Sebikotane - Diamniadio zone of Senegal

Urban expansion zones of West Africa like the towns of Sebikotane and Diamniadio in Senegal's Dakar have seen far-reaching changes in the last decade or so that have transformed peaceful villages into major urban and industrial centres in a short timeframe. These are tangible upheavals that are easy for the local population to describe, having lived through a huge increase in construction following the completion of the motorway. All the tensions inherent to Senegalese society being forced towards modernisation can be seen to play out in these few square kilometres formerly made up of villages, fields and orchards.

The challenge this observatory has set itself is to contribute to the area's social and ecological transformation through scientific investigations of pollution caused by human activities. The aim is to produce knowledge that is relevant to the area because it provides responses to the vital concerns of local residents and also to enhance understanding of this type of anthropogenic pollution situation. Indeed this input will fill scientific knowledge gaps particularly as regards the effects of the accumulation of a very large amount of industrial emissions and effluents. The research also has a political objective through its focus on the area's specific characteristics because the jointly constructed knowledge it will produce can be used by and benefit local residents and the local authorities that represent them. Such knowledge will thus support these stakeholders' ability in taking action to bring about a viable transformation of practices in the area.

This art-science-society pollution observatory has two objectives - to record and analyse ongoing changes and to contribute to public debate in an area where residents are concerned about environmental health issues.

  • The observatory aims to learn collectively from a situation considered experimental to document and represent the effects of an extremely rapid industrial and urban development involving intertwined global, regional and local dynamics.
  • We will also attempt to find and define ways of coping with this kind of development through rehabilitation, repair, redevelopment or regeneration.

To achieve this, the observatory aims to hybridise the research group to broaden its scope. For this reason its work will be based on a residents' council and a network of regional academics as well as the more conventional scientific council. This is intended to integrate a plurality of viewpoints and thus identify shared research questions while benefiting from residents' experience, knowledge and know-how of the area being studied. The knowledge produced will be useful in three ways:

  • socially it will provide responses to local residents' vital concerns;
  • scientifically it will counter ignorance about the effects of cumulative emissions and industrial effluents;
  • politically the knowledge will be jointly constructed and will benefit residents and local authorities, strengthening their capacity for action.

Porteur : Yann Philippe Tastevin, CNRS, Laboratoire international Environnement, Santé, Sociétés (ESS)

Working towards a national research network for action on cancers of occupational and environmental origin

Environmental contamination generally tends to originate in the workplace with examples such as farm workers and residents exposed to pesticides, industrial accidents and disasters, production or storage sites whose activities contaminate local residents and so forth. Occupational exposure to toxic substances is therefore a core environmental health issue and work-related cancers play the role of sentinels for environmental health.

Two Scientific Interest Groups on work-related cancers (French acronym = GISCOPs) based in Seine-Saint-Denis (since 2002) and Vaucluse (since 2017) work with an original approach to interventional research. They study cohorts of cancer patients treated in different hospital departments (AP-HP in Paris and the Hospital Centre in Avignon) to enhance knowledge of work activities that expose people to carcinogens, the traceability of these and the obstacles and/or resistance to recognition of the harm they can cause. This research is at the crossroads where the humanities and social sciences meet chemical physics and clinical, epidemiological and biological sciences. It is action-oriented in that it aims to reveal work-related cancers, promote the prevention thereof and provide input for training.

The GISCOP survey is based on interviews to reconstruct the career paths of cancer patients requested to give detailed descriptions of their actual work activities. These career paths will be analysed by the Collectif pluridisciplinaire d'expertise des conditions de travail et des expositions toxiques (Multidisciplinary expert group on working conditions and toxic exposure) which identifies and characterises exposure to carcinogens at workstations (IARC & EU classifications). Patients considered eligible will be asked to consider occupational disease declarations and those who choose to do so will receive support in dealing with the often lengthy and complicated procedures.

The two GISCOPs have expanded their activities in reaction to the growing importance of environmental health issues. GISCOP 93 is becoming a regional structure whose research results and actions provide input for national initiatives and programmes, particularly in the field of prevention. GISCOP 84 is gradually becoming an interdisciplinary research centre studying health-work-environment issues in the lower Rhône valley in collaboration with hospital doctors and toxicology, epidemiology and biology researchers. These developments are part of a broader drive to break down socially constructed boundaries between occupational and environmental health.

As well as this a variety of stakeholders (researchers, doctors, workers' groups) interested in implementing a similar approach regularly approach the two GISCOPs for assistance. However, neither of the two GISCOPs currently possesses the necessary resources to provide effective support for project leaders wishing to set up similar systems although their own survey approach has now been stabilised with transferable tools created.

In this context, the creation of a shared structure for the two GISCOPs acting as a forerunner for the creation of a national intervention research network will serve as an initial response to the vast health and social issues linked to the health-work-environment by working towards a threefold objective:

  1. to provide a common scientific framework for the two teams' research (comparative analysis of the data collected, exploitation of common results, developing new lines of research) while acting as a forum for exchanges with researchers and research structures nationally and internationally;
  2. to promote and enhance the visibility of the GISCOP approach among stakeholders in this field and provide a framework for dialogue with national institutions on research, training and, more broadly, public policy;
  3. to provide training and tools from the permanent survey to support project leaders setting up other GISCOPs: how to actually set up such a project, the reconstitution of career paths, collective expertise, providing remote access to the secure GISCOP database, etc.

Porteurs : Sylvain Bertschy, CNRS, Institut de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les enjeux sociaux Sciences sociales, Politique, Santé (IRIS) , Moritz Hunsmann, CNRS, Centre Norbert Elias ; Anne Marchand, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Centre d’histoire sociale des Mondes Contemporains (CHS) ; Zoé Rollin, Université Paris Cité, Centre de recherche sur les liens sociaux (CERLIS), Judith Wolf, EHESS, Centre Norbert Elias

Visualizing grammars across space and time (ViGramm)

A brief summary of the project

Grammar is implicit knowledge that is part of our intangible cultural heritage but is also the fruit of a cognitive faculty developed throughout biological evolution. Study of grammar is therefore based around the dichotomy between Nature and Culture.

The aim of the ViGramm project is to model grammatical variation in the Romance languages - all linguistic varieties deriving from Latin. Of course this includes the 'official' languages like French and Romanian and also above all the minor varieties or 'dialects' that have not been standardised or normalised by 'school' grammar. Romance varieties are a fertile area for study because they display a set of innovative features that are absent in their shared ancestor (Latin) and also because these features vary from one dialect to another.

The project will address the following research questions:

  • What are the relevant variables?
  • Are these variables correlated?
  • These correlations form a network of clusters. What is this network's structure?
  • Are these variables evenly distributed in space?
  • Is the spatial distribution of these variables or clusters of variables correlated with extralinguistic factors like political barriers or physical borders?

To provide responses researchers will:

  • collect a large amount of data from existing sources like linguistic atlases and databases;
  • manipulate this data using statistics and data visualisation techniques to make sense of grammatical variation in its entirety without focusing on isolated dialects or phenomena;
  • analyse statistical data through the theoretical prism of generative grammar. The theoretical principle at the core of this research is that all syntactic differences can be reduced to the properties of functional elements like determiners, pronouns, auxiliaries and so forth.

Methodology

The project is based on a simple but innovative methodology. In recent years many projects have focused on digitising major data sources like the large print atlases from the start of the 20th century. The main objective of digitisation was to preserve scientific works the size of which made reprints highly unfeasible and to put the original data online in digital and annotated form.

The ViGramm project is based on a completely different approach which aims to re-use the source rather than to preserve it. The key idea is extraction i.e.; transforming atlas data into metadata or numerical variables that represent: a) the syntactic properties present in each of the millions of sentences making up the corpus; b) the provenance of each item; c) each dialect's geographical coordinates.

The protocol was tested on a set of phenomena (negation and related issues) and on a sample of Italo- and Gallo-Romance dialects. The primary data came from the Atlas Linguistique de la France (ALF), the Atlas Italo-Suisse (AIS), the Atlas Syntaxique de l'Italie (ASIt) and the Thesaurus Occitan (Thesoc).

The metadata are organised in portable .csv files to be made freely accessible in compliance with the Huma-Num infrastructure's best practice guides. These digital variables can be reused in many ways ranging from digital mapping to statistical analysis.

Open science

The maps and graphic formats produced by the project are suitable for dissemination activities aimed at increasing collaboration between the scientific community and communities of speakers of these languages. We will disseminate some of the project materials on social networks to attempt to increase interaction with communities of speakers. As well as the usual scientific publications, project materials may be published on a website with fact sheets written by renowned experts to be made accessible to the general public.

Porteurs : Le projet est porté par Diego Pescarini (BCL, Nice) spécialiste de syntaxe et dialectologie Italo-Romane, en collaboration avec Anne Dagnac (CLLE, Toulouse), spécialiste de syntaxe du français et du picard, et Stella Retali-Medori (LISA, Corte), spécialiste des parlers corses.

Networks in HSS

Research at CNRS Sciences humaines & sociales is supported by theme-based research, prospective networks and scientific interest groups that produce original digital resources, many of which are freely accessible.

Theme-based research networks

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences collaborates with its partners - universities, grandes écoles and research organisations - to identify emerging or structuring themes at the national level and to organise these using various tools to develop a network of researchers and all interested partners or stakeholders.

The theme-based research networks (ex-GDR) bring together a community of laboratories and researchers around an emerging and/or structuring scientific theme. CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences is the main sponsor of the following theme-based research networks:

Association pour le Développement de la Recherche en Économie et en Statistique (ADRES)

Connaissance de l’Europe médiane

Déchets, valeurs, société   

Droit et changement climatique, regards croisés à l’interdisciplinaire

Empire russe, URSS, Monde post-soviétique

Groupement de recherche sur l’action multilatérale

Images, écritures alternatives et sciences sociales (RTIMAGES)

Internet, IA et Société

Langues et Langage à la croisée des Disciplines (LLcD) 

Linguistique Informatique, Formelle et de Terrain

Normes, Sciences et Techniques

Philanthropy and Social Sciences Program (PSSP)

Philosophie des mathématiques

 Recherches autour des questions d'Education (RT CNRS Education)

Réseau d’acquisition des langues secondes (ReAL2) 

Silex : caractérisation et provenance d'une géo-ressource durant la Préhistoire

Techniques et production dans l’histoire

CNRS Humanities and Social Sciences is the secondary sponsor of several theme-based research networks supported by the other Institutes and MITI, including :

Groupe Interdisciplinaire Grand Rift Africain (RIFT), porté par CNRS Terre & Univers

Mémoire, porté par CNRS Biologie

Réparer l'humain (REPAIR), porté par CNRS Ingénierie

Méthodes et Applications pour la Géomatique et l'Information Spatiale (MAGIS), porté par CNRS Sciences informatiques

ARctique : Enjeux pour l'Environnement et les Sociétés, porté par CNRS Ecologie & et Environnement

Groupement de Recherche Mers et Océan (OMER), porté par la MITI

Prospective networks

SHS networks are a flexible and informal institutional formula bringing together foresight researchers from different disciplines around a particular theme or a clearly defined objective. The prospective network is a tool to assist scientific policy, responsible for issuing opinions and proposals. 

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences supports the following prospective networks:

Réseau prospectif Sport et société  

Réseau prospectif Recherche sur les Expérimentations Sociales et TErritoriales « TZC » RESTEZ  

Réseau prospectif Observatoire de Recherche sur la Condition Animale (ORCA)  

Les groupements d'intérêt scientifique

Scientific Interest Groups (French acronym = GIS) are partnerships between research organisations and institutional and/or industrial partners designed to pool skills and resources to implement and work on a specific research programme. A GIS involves a contract and has no legal status.

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences is a sponsor or co-sponsor of the following GIS:

GIS Asie

GIS Démocratie et participation du public

GIS Études Africaines

GIS EuroLab' (Réseau interdisciplinaire de recherche sur l’Union européenne), avec l'Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne

GIS Genre

GIS GESTES (Groupe d'études sur le travail et la santé au travail)

GIS IdA (Institut des Amériques), avec l'Université Sorbonne Nouvelle

GIS MOMM (Moyen-Orient et Mondes Musulmans)

GIS Patrimoine en partage, avec l'ethnopôle GARAE Carcassonne

GIS REHAL (Recherche Habitat-Logement), en création

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences is a partner in the following GIS:

GIS ILVV (Institut de la longévité, des vieillesses et du vieillissement), porté par l'Ined

GIS IRESP (Institut pour la Recherche en Santé Publique), porté par l'Inserm

GIS CREAPT  (Centre de recherches sur l'expérience, l’âge et les populations au travail), porté par le Cnam

Timetable for opening a network on January 1st of year N

Year N-2

September-December: discussion between the project leader(s) of a theme-based research network, prospective network or GIS, the deputy scientific directors (DAS) of the disciplines involved and the deputy scientific director for Networks at CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences.

  • Year N-1

January: The network is discussed at the general management meeting and initial arbitration of projects is carried out at the level of CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences  for a GIS, theme-based research network and prospective network. heme-based research networks are subject to opinions provided by the relevant sections of the National Committee for Scientific Research (CoNRS).

February: Selected theme-based research network projects are finalised and submitted to the CoNRS for approval at its spring session; Draft agreements are prepared for GIS and prospective networks projects.

July: Discussion of theme-based research network at the general management meeting following input from the CoNRS sections; Update on the progress of GIS and prospective networks agreements; Final arbitration and inclusion in CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences budget;

September: Contracts are sent to GIS and prospective networks partners for signature.

  • Year N

January 1st: official opening of the network (theme-based research network, prospective network, GIS)

Scientific prospective

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences is launching a collective foresight study. From 2022 onwards, it has been taking part in, co-organising and setting up conferences and events linked to its priority subjects. The Institute also supports networks working on structuring or emerging themes and study workshops.

Rapports de recherche

CNRS Sciences humaines & sociales mobilise ses communautés pour réaliser, sur des objets scientifiques qui sont également des enjeux de société, des rapports de recherche. Ceux-ci proposent, à un moment donné de l’état des connaissances, des méthodes et de l’accès aux sources, une approche transversale aux sciences humaines et sociales.

Scientific and technical information tools

CNRS researchers at CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences produce an average of 6,500 publications each year, two-thirds of which consist of scientific journal articles and book chapters. They can access more than 8,000 journals and around fifty platforms and databases via the BIB-CNRS portal funded by the CNRS.

Scientific and technical information tools

CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences has created different tools to promote and disseminate scientific research results including publications and research data:

  • the RIBAC observatory which analyzes, characterizes and quantifies the scientific activities and production of all research actors;
  • VariSHS, a platform which promotes and disseminates the work of HSS researchers;
  • JournalBase, a bilingual open access platform on which users can run searches in humanities and social science journals and compare their referencing in different national and international sources and databases;
  • a support policy for French scientific journals in the humanities and social sciences which aims to help professionalize practices and promote better dissemination and greater visibility;
  • a charter on how to write affiliations in researchers' publications;
  • a network of STI correspondents in INSHS units which promotes the sharing and dissemination of practices, tools and experiences and acts as an intermediary between the Institute and its units;
  • a training policy for all CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences stakeholders (Thematic schools, ANF)
  • support for around twenty professional networks linked to the CNRS.

 

The INSHS has been actively supporting open access to research publications and data for around ten years through the national HAL platform and the OpenEdition infrastructure.

These tools and projects were developed in coordination with the major players in the field of scientific and technical information at national - with Research Infrastructures and Very Large-Scale Research Infrastructures (IRs/TGIRs) - and European levels.

Analysis of scientific production

Like the other sciences, the humanities and social sciences need to possess numerical indicators to complement the peer review of scientific production but specific features also have to be taken into account in our fields. These include a greater diversity of publication media (journal articles but also a significant proportion of book chapters), maintaining multilingualism, the presence of small research communities working on highly specialized subjects (e.g. endangered languages) and the absence of reference databases for bibliometric studies.

In this context,CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences's Scientific Council and management have developed a database called RIBAC which makes it possible to identify and describe the activity of research players in the humanities and social sciences in a standardized manner.

Publications

Les chercheurs CNRS permanents en sciences humaines et sociales ont produit annuellement environ 6500 publications en 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. Les articles de revue et les chapitres d'ouvrage représentent près de 2/3 de la production totale.

Les différents types de publications scientifiques
​Les différents types de publications scientifiques produites par les chercheurs en sciences humaines et sociales entre 2011 et 2018

 

La répartition des types de publication est différente selon les champs disciplinaires.

 

Image removed.
Poids des principaux types de publications scientifiques des chercheurs et ingénieurs CNRS par section du comité national en 2015-2016 

 

En « économie et gestion », presque ¾ de la production correspondent à des articles de revue et des documents de travail. Plus des 2/3 des productions dans le domaine « Hommes et milieux : évolution, interactions » se font sous forme d'articles de revues et de rapports. Les linguistes (section 34), sociologues et politologues (sections 36 et 40) et géographes (section 39) produisent également davantage d'articles dans des revues que de chapitres d'ouvrage.

A contrario, il y a une prédominance en faveur des chapitres d'ouvrage dans la production des anthropologues (section 38), des chercheurs et ingénieurs des domaines des «Sciences philosophiques et philologiques, sciences de l'art» (section 35) et des historiens des mondes anciens (section 32) et modernes et contemporains (section 33).

 

Image removed.
Répartition des articles de revue publiés par les chercheurs CNRS par section du comité national et par source (source RIBAC 2015)
Poids des principaux types de publications scientifiques des chercheurs CNRS par section d’évaluation en 2012
Poids des principaux types de publications scientifiques des chercheurs CNRS par section d’évaluation en 2012

 

 

Participation à des colloques des chercheurs CNRS de l’InSHS

L’activité « colloque » (communication et/ou organisation) est effectuée par 90,5 % des chercheurs et il n’y a pas de différences très importantes entre les disciplines (source Ribac 2012).

 

Activité « colloque » des chercheurs SHS
Activité « colloque » des chercheurs SHS par section du comité national

 

Presque 2/3 des colloques auxquels ont participé les chercheurs ont une audience internationale.

La presque totalité des présentations (95,7 %) se font sous la forme d’une communication orale. Les présentations sous forme de poster restent relativement peu nombreuses en SHS (source Ribac 2012).

 

Répartition des posters présentés par les chercheurs SHS
Répartition des posters présentés par les chercheurs SHS lors de manifestations scientifiques par section du comité national (source Ribac 2012)

 

La participation et le portage des projets et programmes de recherche financés sur contrats des chercheurs CNRS de l’InSHS

Environ 2/3 des chercheurs (64 %) ont déclaré être membres ou porteurs d’un programme de recherche. La répartition par section fait apparaitre une grande diversité de pratique d’une discipline à l’autre.

 

sections

Nbre de chercheurs membres ou responsables de programmes

Nbre de chercheurs total RIBAC 2012

%

31 - Hommes et milieux : évolution, interactions

80

97

82,5%

32 - Mondes anciens et médiévaux

160

225

71,1%

33 - Mondes modernes et contemporains

113

188

60,1%

34 - Sciences du langage

137

195

70,3%

35 - Sciences philosophiques et philologiques, sciences de l'art

113

202

55,9%

36 - Sociologie et sciences du droit

117

192

60,9%

37 - Economie et gestion

86

181

47,5%

38 - Anthropologie et étude comparative des sociétés contemporaines

91

166

54,8%

39 - Espaces, territoires et sociétés

109

135

80,7%

40 - Politique, pouvoir, organisation

135

196

68,9%

autres sections

13

21

61,9%

 Total

1154

1798

64,2%

 

Nombre de chercheurs CNRS de l’InSHS membres ou porteurs de projets en fonction de la typologie des projets

typologie des projets

nombre de responsables

nombre de membres

ANR

182

537

Divers national

81

335

Ministère

58

143

Europe

54

202

CNRS

51

112

Investissement d'avenir

46

131

Région

44

89

Divers international

27

333

Fondation

24

31

Université

16

44

Laboratoire

12

97

MSH

11

25

Mission archéologique

9

59

Privé

1

58

Total

616

2196

Public dissemination of your research results

If you are a researcher at the CNRS in a research unit co-supervised by the InSHS and have a problem or question concerning the public dissemination of your research results, the InSHS is there to discuss the matter with you and guide you to the right contact person at the CNRS to help you if necessary.

You can write to the director or deputy scientific director in charge of your unit and to the InSHS Communication Pole.

The freedom of expression for researchers is consubstantial to academic freedom. As a principle it is enshrined in and protected by the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights, the jurisprudence of the French Constitutional Council and France's Research Code. Nonetheless as with all fundamental rights, exercising freedom of expression needs to comply with the law. French law sets out certain limits to the freedom of expression to reconcile it with other fundamental principles. In this way, insults and defamation are prohibited as is defending terrorism while privacy and secrets are protected including administrative, industrial, commercial and business secrets, etc.

Public speaking by CNRS researchers, engineers and technicians is also regimented by statutory obligations and ethical principles (Law dated July 13th1983 on the rights and obligations of civil servants). These govern the activity of all civil servants who have to respect obligations of dignity, probity and integrity, impartiality, neutrality, professional secrecy and discretion. They are also required to carry out their functions and to obey their hierarchy and respect the principles of secularism and non-discrimination.