Comment se font les administrations : analyser des activités administratives constituantes

Entre les réflexions de sociologie historique sur les transformations des administrations publiques et les perspectives micro-sociologiques sur le travail ordinaire des fonctionnaires, cet article défend l’intérêt d’une perspective d’analyse intermédiaire centrée sur des « activités administratives constituantes ». Au terme d’un panorama du champ des multiples recherches sur les administrations, il propose de centrer le regard sur des dispositifs qui donnent forme aux administrations et constituent des rouages essentiels de leurs fonctionnements. Les activités de recrutement, de notation, de structuration de hiérarchies, de construction de division du travail, d’inscription dans l’écrit ou de comptage gagneraient à être constituées en objets propres d’enquêtes et étudiées pour elles-mêmes, dans leurs contextes historiques et sociaux, pour comprendre de manière fine la manière dont se font, se pérennisent et se recomposent les administrations. Aux jeux des échelles d’analyse, au test de la comparaison dans le temps et dans l’espace, l’article présente l’ensemble des contributions du numéro et suggère des pistes de recherches moins linéaires des processus historiques de bureaucratisation et de managérialisation des systèmes administratifs. Between studies in historical sociology on changes in public administrations and microsociological analyses of the ordinary work done by civil servants, an intermediate perspective is advocated, one centered on “constituent administrative activities”. Following a panorama of the varied researches on public administrations, the proposal is made to focus on the arrangements that shape administrations and form their essential operations. Recruitment, personnel evaluation, the division of labor, the restructuring of hierarchies and the activities of keeping written records and statistics (writing and counting) should be the subjects of study. When placed in their historical and social contexts, they help us better understand how public administrations last and change. Discussing the scale of analysis and making comparisons over time and in space, this article presents the other contributions to this special issue. Less linear approaches are suggested for analyzing the historical processes of the “bureaucratization” and “managerialization” of administrative systems. Between studies in historical sociology on changes in public administrations and microsociological analyses of the ordinary work done by civil servants, an intermediate perspective is advocated, one centered on “constituent administrative activities”. Following a panorama of the varied researches on public administrations, the proposal is made to focus on the arrangements that shape administrations and form their essential operations. Recruitment, personnel evaluation, the division of labor, the restructuring of hierarchies and the activities of keeping written records and statistics (writing and counting) should be the subjects of study. When placed in their historical and social contexts, they help us better understand how public administrations last and change. Discussing the scale of analysis and making comparisons over time and in space, this article presents the other contributions to this special issue. Less linear approaches are suggested for analyzing the historical processes of the “bureaucratization” and “managerialization” of administrative systems.