Summary

Vocational training for employees largely takes place through indirect channels of knowledge acquisition, taking the form of informal, unofficial and largely invisible practices that fall outside the traditional frameworks for knowledge transfer.

These unseen ways of acquiring skills fall under the heading of self-learning and are widely used by individuals. Their importance has grown with the rise of digital technology through a wide range of media: exchanging emails or messages via WhatsApp, consulting online resources, and, more recently, using generative artificial intelligence (GAI).

By examining this phenomenon, which remains poorly documented – not least because of the methodological challenges it poses – this book offers an in-depth study of two professional fields where knowledge evolves rapidly and requires constant updating: medicine and computer science. It demonstrates how these alternative approaches challenge and reshape traditional modes of knowledge transmission, as well as the institutions that underpin them.

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The article Publication of ‘Invisible Learning in the Digital Age’ by Patrice Flichy first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

“Faced with the major issues affecting our societies, this series encourages readers not to succumb to the temptation of ready-made thinking, by questioning assumptions that are sometimes misleading. Are there other perspectives from which to approach these societal challenges? What would be the economic, democratic and political consequences of such approaches? The books in the series draw on the latest findings in the social sciences to explore these questions. They prioritise accessible and direct language to foster the widest possible debate, whilst outlining new forms of action – at both the individual and collective levels – for those concerned with the public issues at the heart of our lives. ‘Public Issues’ aims to foster a dialogue between scientific research and public debate on the major contemporary challenges.”

Sociological imagination is an ecological imperative

The first book in the series was published in September 2026. It is Sociological Imagination: An Ecological Emergency by Léo Magnin.

“The ecological emergency has a thousand faces: global warming, the collapse of biodiversity, desertification, water and air pollution, the depletion of resources… Yet the destruction of the environment continues unchecked. Why is the ecological emergency not a concern shared by everyone to the extent that it brings about change? Léo Magnin answers this question by inviting us to sharpen our sociological imagination. Through the portrait of a sixty-something environmental police officer, the sociologist enthusiastically takes us on a quest for vanished partridges, little-known statistics and rapeseed pollinators. Enriched by a wealth of anecdotes and underpinned by a rigorous approach, this original and accessible little book teaches us that environmental issues are also, and always, social issues. This book launches a series of short essays in the humanities and social sciences, aimed at the general public who are curious about current debates and seeking tools to analyse and make sense of their society. Short in length and written in an accessible, educational style, the books in this series aim to provide a platform for researchers in the humanities and social sciences, whilst making their reflections and scientific research available to a wider audience, with a view to sharing knowledge beyond academic circles alone. The aim is to provide insights and tools for reflection and understanding, enabling readers to think differently and make sense of our society at a time when media and political debates are becoming increasingly prevalent and tense.”

Author: Léo Magnin is a sociologist, a research fellow at the CNRS and a member of the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Science, Innovation and Society (LISIS). He is the author of The Social Life of Hedges. An Inquiry into the Greening of Social Practices (La Découverte, 2024) and Environmental Polices under Constraints (Rue d’Ulm, 2024), co-authored with Rémi Rouméas and Robin Basier.

Artistic direction and layout: François-Xavier Delarue

The article ‘Public Issues’: a new series shedding light on major societal debates first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

“On the outskirts of Paris, Montreuil epitomises the contrasting transformations taking place in the inner suburbs. For several decades now, young middle-class households have been leaving the capital to settle there, fuelling a visible process of gentrification. Does this mean that these former strongholds of the ‘red suburbs’, long governed by the Communist Party, have lost all their working-class character and are dissolving into a homogenised ‘Greater Paris’?

Nothing could be further from the truth. Drawing on thirty years of research into the city, this book argues for the idea of a unique trajectory. With its political roots on the left, a long-standing immigrant population, a significant proportion of social housing, and the rise of alternative forms of housing, Montreuil combines social transformation with strong elements of continuity.

Far from the clichés about the ‘suburbs’ or the ‘bobos’ who have come to take them over, this book shows how a working-class heritage, new residential aspirations and local activism coexist. It offers a nuanced interpretation of metropolitan dynamics and examines the capacity of these areas to remain spaces characterised by social diversity, conflict and political innovation.

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Jean-Pierre Lévy is a geographer and a research director at the CNRS. His work focuses on issues relating to housing and settlement at national and local levels, urban mobility and the use of domestic spaces. He is notably the author of From the Sustainable City to Nature in the City (Septentrion, 2015).

Sylvie Tissot is a sociologist and lecturer at the University of Paris 8. She has researched the emergence of urban policy and the phenomenon of gentrification in the United States and France. She is notably the author of Gayfriendly. Acceptance and Tolerance in Paris and New York (Raisons d’agir, 2018).

To purchase the book

The article Publication of ‘Montreuil: Still a Working-Class Suburb?’ by Jean-Pierre Lévy first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

“Did you know that, since 2020, the roads, infrastructure and buildings constructed by humankind weigh more than the planet’s entire living biomass? That nearly 1 billion cameras monitor our cities, often installed by the residents themselves? Or that during heatwaves, the temperature difference between certain neighbourhoods and the surrounding natural areas can exceed 10 °C?
The city is one of humanity’s greatest inventions. This book chronicles the world’s great urban transformation through original infographics, based on the latest research.
From data centres to sanctuary cities, from business districts to oases of cool, from holiday homes to Olympic villages, this book explores the many ways in which we live in, build, monitor, protect and transform cities.
At a time when cities are both the focus of the greatest environmental challenges and a key source of solutions, this new volume in the Homo Graphicus series offers a different way of understanding the urban world, its history and the diversity of its possible futures.”

Book: ‘The City: An Infographic’

The article Publication of ‘The City: An Infographic’ first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

“Combining scholars from around the world, this Handbook presents theories, methods and case studies that illuminate the far-reaching role of financial markets in the production of space. Focusing on the role of finance, it critically examines the uneven and conflictual geographies of contemporary capitalism.

Expert contributors critically investigate how land, housing, infrastructure and even nature are recast as assets for global investors. Drawing on case studies spanning agribusiness regions in Brazil, earthquake-stricken villages in Nepal and Canadian forests and mines, the authors trace the contours, actors and power relations of planetary financialisation. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, they advance a spatial and socioecological lens exposing how the planet, in all its socio-ecological dimensions, has become the terrain of financial markets’ extractive practices, as well as the frictions, contradictions and limits that unsettle them.

This Handbook is a crucial resource for scholars, students and researchers of human and financial geography, urban and economic sociology, architecture and planning, as well as anthropology and political science. Its coverage of urban development and socio-environmental (de)regulation also makes this essential reading for activists and policymakers concerned with the socio-environmental consequences of financialisation.”

The book *Handbook on Financialisation and Space*, published by Edward Elgar

The article Publication of ‘Handbook on Financialisation and Space’ first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

“Artificial Intelligence and Medicine” – Issue coordinated by Gérald Gaglio and Alexandre Mathieu-Fritz.

SUMMARY OF THE DOSSIER:

Introduction

AI, medicine, and social sciences – A perspective. By Gérald Gaglio and Alexandre Mathieu-Fritz

Artificial intelligence and medicine:

Intertwining and “professionalization” of socio-technical promises. The case of AI in radiology. By Lise Arena, Gérald Gaglio, and Jean-Sébastien Vayre

Beyond explainability. Study of the design of intelligible artificial intelligence in pathological anatomy and cytology. By Océane Fiant, Camille Franchet, and Robin Schwob

The dermatologist, melanoma, and artificial intelligence. The (slow) development of uses and transformations in clinical reflexivity. By Alexandre Mathieu-Fritz and Dilara Trupia

The coding of medical information put to the test by AI. Performance and uncertainty of coding in hospitals. By Loubna Echajari, Hugo Jeanningros, and Myriam Lewkowicz

The production of mortality data. The improvement of coding procedures supported by deep learning. By Isabella Feroni

The black box and the doctor. Investigation into the legal issue of the explainability of medical AI. By Sonia Desmoulin

Reading notes:

Ulises A. MEJIAS and Nick COULDRY, Data Grab. The New Colonialism of Big Tech (and How to Fight Back), London, WH Allen, 2024, 303 p. By Sébastien Broca

Melchior SIMIONI and Philippe STEINER, The Matching Society, Paris, Sciences Po Les Presses, 2024, 172 p. By Tristan Dominguez

The article Issue 248 of the journal Réseaux first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

Summary of the dossier:

• Making a living from views. By Olivier Alexandre and Bilel Benbouzid

• The YouTube market. Organization, revenue, and topology. By Olivier Alexandre, Bilel Benbouzid, Arnaud Lelievre, and Bertrand Roudier

• Working on your channel. Platform videographers and their sources of income. By Quentin Gilliotte and Dominique Pasquier

• Gift capitalism. Economic sociology of the Twitch platform. By Nathan Ferret

• The flip side of fame and the market. Behind the scenes with anonymous Twitch streamers. By Sylvain Juanes and Manuel Boutet

• Behind the smiles, precariousness. Content creation among independent coaches. By Anne Jourdain

• Understanding algorithms in action. The case of the content qualification infrastructure of the Dailymotion platform. By Thomas Jaffeux

Miscellaneous:

• Lancetgate or scientific publishing put to the test by Twitter. Disorganized skepticism. By Émilien Schultz, Simon Guillouet, Emma Cape, and Guillaume Lachenal

Reading notes:

Carole GAYET-VIAUD, Urban Civility: The Elementary Forms of Democratic Coexistence, Paris, Economica, 2022, coll. "Sociological Studies," 227 p. By Aude LAUPIE

Juan Sebastián CARBONELL, Le futur du travail (The Future of Work), Paris, Éditions Amsterdam, 2022, 192 p. By Marion BEAUVALET

Antoine BURRET, Nos tiers-lieux. Défendre les lieux de sociabilité du quotidien (Our Third Places: Defending Everyday Social Spaces), FYP Editions, 2023, 256 p. By Matthieu Demory

The article Issue 246-247 of the journal Réseaux first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

Portraits from Flux magazine

In accordance with publishing rights, we apply a three-year "moving barrier" for company profiles published by FLUX magazine and distributed by Cairn. All texts published before this date are freely accessible, while more recent ones can be accessed via FLUX (print version) or Cairn (electronic version). Articles published before the January-March 2001 issue of Flux are available on Persée.

• JCDecaux and Clear Channel Outdoor – Maxime Huré

• Family conglomerates (5) – Ayala Corporation – Dominique Lorrain and Morgan Mouton

• Family conglomerates (4) – Salim group – Dominique Lorrain

• Family conglomerates (3) – Suharto & Co – Dominique Lorrain

• Family conglomerates (2) – "The Four Sisters" – Alvaro Artigas

• Family conglomerates (1) – Odebrecht – Flux, No. 99, January-March 2015, pp. 59-69, Alvaro Artigas

• ESKOM Holdings SOC Limited – Sylvy Jaglin and Alain Dubresson

• Port hubs (3): Operator strategies on the West African coast – Flux, No. 97/98, July-December 2014, pp. 110-117, Jean Debrie

• The energy transition – 2 – Flux, No. 96, April-June 2014, pp. 61-72, Christophe Defeuilley

• The energy transition – 1 – Flux, No. 95, January-March 2014, pp. 65-76, Christophe Defeuilley

• Logistics real estate companies – 2 – Flux, No. 93/94, July-December 2013, pp. 91-103, Nicolas Raimbault

• Logistics real estate companies – 1 – Flux, No. 92, April-June 2013, pp. 62-74, Nicolas Raimbault

• The New River Company – Flux, No. 91, January-March 2013, pp. 56-65, Christophe Defeuilley – First experience of a private drinking water company

• A.P. Møller: world leader in maritime transport – Flux, No. 88, April-June 2012, pp. 60-70, Antoine Frémont

• Port hubs (1): Major global operators – Flux, No. 87, January-March 2012, pp. 63-72, Jean Debrie

• French REITs: Foncière des Régions and Unibail-Rodamco – Flux, No. 85/86, July-December 2011, 89-104. (C. Boisnier) – Two publicly traded investment companies

• Hub 4: the strategies of Fraport AG and Aéroport de Paris – Flux, No. 84, April-June 2011, pp. 73-89. (C. Halpern) – Fourth article on airport operators devoted to the two continental majors.

• Hub 3: Has airport management changed in nature? BAA plc – Flux, No. 83, January-March 2011, 68-82. (C. Halpern) – Third article on airport operators, devoted to the British operator BAA

• Blue red chips: water companies in China – Flux, No. 82, October-December 2010, 64-80. (D. Lorrain). – The emergence of private water companies in China with three origins: municipal companies, financial conglomerates, and new entrants

• Macquarie: a bank in infrastructure – Flux, No. 81, July-September 2010, 67-78. (D. Lorrain). – Second article on airport operators: Australian bank Macquarie

• Hub (airports and ports). Ferrovial/BAA: one transaction too many? – Flux, No. 79/80, January-June 2010, 140-152. (C. Halpern, D. Lorrain) – ^First part of a series on airport operators: general positioning, history of the takeover of BAA (the British operator) by Ferrovial (the Spanish construction group).

• Natural gas in Europe (3). Centrica – Flux, No. 78, October-December 2009, 89-99. (C. Defeuilley) – ^Third part of an analysis of the European gas sector: the British group Centrica.

• Natural gas in Europe (2). Gazprom – Flux, No. 76/77, April-September 2009, 126-134. (C. Defeuilley) – Part 2 of an analysis of the European gas sector: Gazprom.

• Natural gas in Europe (1). Between market liberalization and geopolitics – Flux, No. 75, January-March 2009, 99-11. (C. Defeuilley) – Part 1 of an analysis of the European gas sector: overview and main groups

• The finance industry and infrastructure (2): private investment funds – Flux, No. 72/73, April-September 2008, 138-151. (D. Lorrain). – Second article in a series, presenting the KKR and Cerberus funds, a timeline of the financial crisis, and an assessment of the impact of private equity on infrastructure

• The finance industry and infrastructure (1): private investment funds – Flux, No. 71, January-March 2008, 78-91. (D. Lorrain). – Discussion of the industrial model of private equity funds and presentation of Blackstone, Carlyle, Apollo Management

• Major Spanish real estate developers – Flux, No. 70, October-December 2007, 74-87. (J. Pollard). – The real estate sector in Spain and presentation of Metrovacesa, Vallehermoso, Fadesa, Immobiliaria Urbis

• Major French real estate developers – Flux, No. 69, July-September 2007, 94-108. (J. Pollard) – Overview of the sector in France and five developers: Nexity, Bouygues Immobilier, Meunier Promotion, Icade, Promogim

• England: from the real estate boom to PFI – Flux No. 68, April-June 2007, 81-99. (D. Lorrain). – Fourth article in a series devoted to changes in the construction sector in Europe. Presents PFI and the Balfour Beatty, Amec, and Carillion groups

• Spanish construction groups (motorways 3) – Flux No. 66-67, March 2007, 149-162. (D. Lorrain) – Construction in Spain and the ACS-Dragados, Ferrovial, FCC, and Acciona groups.

• German construction groups (motorways 2) – Flux No. 63-64, January-June 2006, 75-84. (D. Lorrain) – Second in a series devoted to the evolution of major European construction groups towards services, presents Hochtief, Strabag, Bilfinger und Berger

• Motorways in Europe (1) – Flux No. 62, October-December 2005, 58-74. (D. Lorrain). – Series that began with the privatization of French motorways and its protagonists: Autostrade, Abertis, Brisa, Macquarie

• Enel and Scottish Power. European utilities (1) – Flux No. 60/61, April-September 2005, 105-115. (C. Defeuilley, D. Lorrain) – The multi-utility strategy of two European electricity companies (Enel, Scottish Power) and the refocusing of 2002/03 under pressure from the financial markets

• Exelon: the return of Samuel Insull's empire? – Flux No. 59, January-March 2005, 68-75. (C. Defeuilley). – Second article devoted to the electricity sector in the United States: profile of Exelon, the large Chicago-based group

• Singapore Inc. – Flux No. 58, October-December 2004, 85-96. (D. Lorrain) – The combination of a state that intervenes in urban affairs and private companies: Jurong Town Corp., SembCorp., CapitaLand, Keppel, Port of Singapore Authority

• The electricity sector in the United States (1) – Flux No. 56/57, April-September 2004, 112-126. (C. Defeuilley) – Deregulation of the electricity sector in the United States and its impact on a number of companies: Duke Energy, TXU, AES

• Hitachi, a Japanese environmental industrialist (2) – Flux No. 55, January-March 2004, 60-72. (D. Lorrain).

• The fall of Andersen – Flux No. 51, January-March 2003, 75-82. (N. May)

• Japanese environmental manufacturers (1) – Flux No. 50, December 2002, 80-90. (D. Lorrain) – The industrial and technical approach to urban issues in Japan. Overview of major groups: Kubota, Ebara, Kurita, Chiyoda, JGC, Toyo, TSK, Nippon Steel, NKK, Kobe Steel, KHI, IHI.

• Waste Management: American waste companies (2) – Flux No. 48-49, April-September 2002, 107-121. (D. Lorrain)

• Enron – Flux No. 46, October-December 2001, 76-84. (C. Defeuilley)

• Fiat – Flux No. 44-45, September 2001, 99-107. (D. Lorrain) – Starting with EDF's entry into Italy with Montedison, this article presents the history of the Fiat group and its "urban" activities.

• American waste management companies (1) – Flux No. 43, January-March 2001, 73-84. (D. Lorrain) – Portrait of a sector and its offerings: Waste Management, Allied-BFI, Superior Services, Laidlaw-Safety Kleen, Ogden, Philip Services.

• Thames Water and Kelda Group (British water companies) – Flux No. 41, July-October 2000, 71-84. (D. Lorrain) – Ten years after the privatization of the water sector.

• RWE (German electricity companies) – Flux No. 39-40, June 2000, 94-103. (D. Lorrain)

• Bechtel – Flux No. 38, October 1999, 72-78. (D. Lorrain) – A leading figure in American engineering and its "urban" activities

• Cheung Kong – Flux No. 36-37, July 1999, 61-66. (D. Lorrain) – A brief history of the large Hong Kong group created by Mr. Li Ka-shing: Cheung Kong Holdings, Hutchison Whampoa

Other references on major firms

• The discreet hand: global finance in the city (D. Lorrain) – Revue française de science politique, vol. 61, no. 6, pp. 1097-1122
• The local-global firm: Lyonnaise des Eaux, 1980-2004 (D. Lorrain) – Sociology of Work, vol. 49, 2007 (5)
• The local-global firm, (Lyonnaise des Eaux: 1980-2004) (D. Lorrain) – Sociology of Work, vol. 47 (3) 2005, 340-361
• The dynamics of French urban services companies (C. Defeuilley) – Entreprises et Histoire, no. 38, June 2005, 96-108
• Large Groups and the City – Entreprises et Histoire, Special Report, No. 30, 2002 – Articles on CGE, SAE, urban groups in Singapore, transport companies in Brazil, Enron, AT&T

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Flux

Persée: articles up to January-March 2001

Cairn: articles from January-March 2001 onwards

The article Portraits from Flux magazine first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

"What does mobility do to urban worlds? Infrastructure, architecture, technology, images, practices: for those interested in the future of cities, their past and their present, the imagination is a fertile field of understanding. By scrutinizing objects, languages, devices, and their multiple appearances, Anne Jarrigeon and Nathalie Roseau explore, through the imagination, one of the most powerful driving forces of contemporary experience, one of its inseparable conditions: mobility. A book with two voices, Condition mobile crosses temporalities and disciplines: urban ethnology, visual anthropology, and semiotics for Anne Jarrigeon; architecture, urban planning, and history for Nathalie Roseau.

The article "Mobile condition. Springs of the imagination" first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

"What if we listened seriously to what ordinary city dwellers have to say? This is the approach taken in this issue, which focuses on a collection of written complaints that have the city as their setting but also as their subject. What do these quiet protests tell us? To what extent do they inform us about the fabric of the city? These unusual sources, which are valuable material for historians, provide valuable and unique insights into the social and material transformations of urban environments. This is demonstrated by each of the studies brought together here."

The article "Urban history put to the test by city complaints" first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

"Digital Diplomacy and Political Influence Strategies" – Issue coordinated by Inna Lyubareva and Julien Nocetti.

Summary of the dossier:

• Digital Diplomacy and Political Influence Strategy. The Evolution of Diplomatic and Influence Strategies in the Digital Age. By Inna Lyubareva and Julien Nocetti

• China Global Television Network French, (digital) television as an instrument of Chinese "political warfare." By Sébastien Palla

• Sino-Pakistani digital diplomacy. Study of a joint information maneuvering mechanism. By Nowmay Opalinski

• Under the radar. Crisis, restructuring, and clandestinization of Russia's information influence apparatus after the invasion of Ukraine. By Maxime Audinet and Colin Gérard

• The Ukrainian "information shield." Infrastructuring digital sovereignty practices. By Louis Pétiniaud

• The national roots of a multinational corporation. Google's recruitment and adaptation to the French sphere of influence (2002-2012). By Charles Thibout

• Facebook as a player in international relations. A study of Internet.org, its project to connect the world. By Tristan Mattelart

Miscellaneous:

• Digital data, the new sinews of war? The emergence of a military market for artificial intelligence in France. By Alina Surubaru

• Three theories of surveillance capitalism: control, exploitation, reproduction. By Marc-Antoine Pencolé

Reading notes:

• Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh Star, Making Things Happen: The Consequences of Classification, Paris, Éditions de l'EHESS, 2023, 447 p. By Nicolas Dodier

• Lee McGuigan, Selling the American People: Advertising, Optimization, and the Origins of Adtec

The article Issue 245 of the journal Réseaux first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.

This France Culture program featuring Nathalie Roseau was broadcast on September 27, 2024.

The article "Can the Paris ring road be governed?" first appeared on LATTS - Laboratory for Territorial and Societal Techniques.