The National Center for Complementary and Integrated Health, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has highlighted a need for research to better understand the usage of complementary and alternative medicine practices. The purpose of this study was to investigate the flow of complementary and alternative medicine information among yoga practitioners. The study consisted of 51 yoga practitioners from 7 yoga studio locations. This mixed-methods study used interviews, surveys, and field notes to collect data. Content and social network analyses provided supporting evidence for Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory and Granovetter's strength of weak ties theory. Key findings included a preference for face-to-face communications, students having both strong and weak relationship ties to directors and instructors, and yoga being the top recommended practice. The study suggested that yoga practitioners related to complementary and alternative medicine information through the lens of their friends and relatives, sought information from trusted sources, and used this information to determine which practices were right for them to pursue.

Social media today is a dominant communication tool, which structures not only our social interactions but also filter the information users are getting displayed. The big social media platforms use our interaction data to analyse our behaviour and sell the data for commercial interest. But not only the pure interaction data is valuable for these platforms. Also hidden information, which can be derived from our interactive networks, about our social structures, social classifications and social status are gathered and monetised. This research attempts on the one hand to uncover some of these methods used by social media platforms, and on the other hand, also wants to show how useful these new methods can be for research on social phenomena. Therefore, this study goes beyond the confining limits of traditional sociology, where either qualitative or quantitative methods are applied. Following the idea of Critical Realism, the positivist and constructivist methods are applied in combination in order to provide thick accounts of the studied material. In this study, varying socioeconomic classification systems (like the Sinus-Milieu models) are investigated and evaluated against the background of Bourdieu’s ideas on cultural and social forms of capital. The present study uses a mixed method approach (Social Network Analysis and Sentiment Analysis) to analyse quantitative data from Twitter conversations which were collected during the Austrian EU Election 2019. In conclusion, one could say that the overall purpose of this study is to demonstrate the usefulness of Critical Realism for social media research, since this approach can create a thicker account of the studied material than other, more traditional methods. This undertaking is demonstrated by the findings of the study. These findings are the building of specific sub-clusters of EU candidates which are not related to the same political background and traditional demographics but whose relation can be detected and described using Bourdieu’s concepts of social and cultural capital. As a mean for gathering empirical data, Twitter turned out to be a useful and accessible tool for this study.

No description available.

A análise de redes sociais permite estudar a maneira como são estabelecidas as conexões entre indivíduos e como estas evoluem ao longo do tempo. A coautoria é uma das formas mais estudadas e bem documentadas de colaboração científica. Existem muitos aspectos de redes de colaboração científica, os quais podem ser rastreados de forma confiável através da análise de redes de colaboração usando métodos bibliométricos. Diversos esforços em diferentes áreas de pesquisa tentam analisar, entender, explicar e predizer o comportamento de sistemas modelados através de redes sociais. Nestes estudos, os indivíduos são modelados como vértices de um grafo, enquanto as relações entre eles são representadas por arestas. Atualmente, o estudo de redes de colaboração científica é importante e necessário para apoiar o planejamento estratégico, implementação e gestão dos programas de pesquisa científica. Neste trabalho, apresentamos um modelo de análise de redes científicas baseado em Grafos Relacionais com Atributos (ARG). O modelo proposto permite representar as redes de colaboração científica incluindo atributos individuais dos pesquisadores e atributos dos trabalhos colaborativos de pares de pesquisadores. Os dados correspondem às produções científicas de pesquisadores cadastrados na plataforma Lattes e extraídas automaticamente usando a ferramenta scriptLattes. Na primeira etapa, foi implementado o cálculo automatizado da taxa de internacionalização de cada pesquisador, a qual mostra a proporção entre o número de publicações internacionais e o número total de publicações. Esta medida junto com a produção científica individual discretizada em diversos grupos fazem parte das informações armazenadas nos vetores de atributos dos vértice dos ARGs. Por outro lado os vetores de atributos das arestas armazenam informações dos trabalhos colaborativos discretizados segundo a classificação da CAPES. Adicionalmente, neste trabalho foram exploradas duas aplicações relacionadas à (i) predição de trabalhos colaborativos futuros e à (ii) influência dos pesquisadores na rede de colaboração. O resultado da predição de vínculos foi usado para determinar a influência dos pesquisadores na redes de colaboração. A influência tem sido explorada com base na variação da predição de ligações com a presença ou a ausência do pesquisador na rede. Nossa proposta foi avaliada considerando diferentes testes sobre redes de coautoria científica de diversos grupos de pesquisadores. Os resultados obtidos são promissores para a análise de redes sociais em geral. / The social network analysis allows the study of how the relationships are established between individuals and how their are evolving with the time. The co-authorship is one of the most studied and documented scientific collaboration. There are some aspects which could be traced in a reliable way through the social network analysis using bibliometric methods. There are several proposals in different research areas trying to analyse, understand, explain and predict the behaviour of systems modeled as social networks. In this study, the individuals are modeled as vertices of a graph, while the relationships between them are represented by edges. Currently the study of scientific collaboration networks is important and necessary to support the strategic planning, implementation and management of scientific research programs. In this work, we present an scientific networks analysis model based on Attributed Relational Graphs (ARG). The proposed model allows to represent the scientific collaboration networks including individual attributes of researchers and attributes of the collaborative work of researchers pairs. The data correspond to the scientific production of researchers, registered in the Lattes Platform and automatically extracted using the tool scriptLattes \\citep{Mena-Chalco:2009}. In the first step, was implemented the automated computation of the internationalization rate for each researcher, that shows the ratio between the number of international publications and the total number of publications. This measure together with the individual scientific production discretized in diverse groups form part of the information stored in the vertices of the ARGs. On the other hand, the edges store information of collaborative work discretized according to the CAPES classification. Additionally, this work explores two related applications (i) prediction of future collaborative work and (ii) influence of researchers in collaboration network. The result of the link prediction was used to determine the influence of researchers in collaborative networks. The influence in collaboration network is computed based on the variation of the link prediction with the presence or absence of the researcher in the network. Our proposal was evaluated with different real scientific co-authorship networks and with different research groups. The results obtained look promising for analyzing social networks in general.

Diante da abundância de informações e de compartilhamentos em sites de redes sociais e da proliferação de convites para o uso desses sites na Educação, esta tese propõe a pesquisa das estruturas relacionais que emergem das interações sociais em grupos no site de rede social Facebook. O objetivo geral é compreender como as interações sociais em rede e nas redes podem contribuir para uma Educação em Rede a partir da análise dos padrões de interação social em grupos no site Facebook. Analisamos dois casos distintos de redes sociais organizadas como parte de processos pedagógicos. Os recursos curtir, comentar e curtir comentários são os tipos de interação social em rede que deram origem aos grafos analisados. As temáticas das postagens e os tipos de suportes tecnológicos são identificados na análise dos padrões de interação social em rede e nas redes, nas quais destacamos a participação, o engajamento e o sentimento de pertencimento dos atores. A Análise de Redes Sociais é o método utilizado para compreender as dinâmicas das interações. O Modelo de Análise da Comunicação Assíncrona é adotado na análise de conteúdo das postagens e dos comentários dessas postagens com vistas a destacar as temáticas compartilhadas e discutidas. Nas redes sociais em foco, as pessoas se organizam e interagem, prioritariamente, com o professor ou com os atores sociais que assumem as funções de professor. Considerando que os recursos tecnológicos disponíveis permitem fluxo de informações de diferentes fontes, o que observamos é que o professor é a pessoa fundamental para articular as aprendizagens nas redes sociais. A configuração da sala de aula analógica se transfere para os comportamentos e às expectativas do que deve acontecer na sala de aula em redes sociais. Essa dinâmica fornece subsídios para propor orientações à formação de professores e diretrizes para a realização de Educação em Rede. A difusão das informações e a circulação de atores-ponte na rede contribuem para que haja presença social. A presença social é uma peça fundamental para a presença cognitiva. O uso de sites de redes sociais na educação tem valor pedagógico desde que haja presença social endereçada ao ensino. É necessário que um ator ou alguns atores ajam de modo a garantir relações de ensino e aprendizagem. / Faced with the abundance of information and shares on social networking sites and invitations proliferation to the use of these sites in education, this thesis proposes the research of relational structures that emerge from social interactions in groups on the Facebook social networking site. The overall goal is to understand how social interactions network and the networks can contribute to an Education Network based on the analysis of patterns of social interaction in groups on Facebook site. We analyzed two different cases of social networks organized as part of pedagogical processes. Resources Like, Comment and Like Comments are the types of social interaction network that gave rise to the analyzed graphs. The thematic of posts and the types of technological support are identified in the analysis of patterns of social interaction in the network and the networks in which we highlight the participation, engagement and sense of belonging of the actors. The Social Network Analysis is the method used to understand the dynamics of interactions. The Asynchronous Communications Analysis Model is adopted in the content analysis of posts and comments of these posts with a view to highlight the shared and discussed themes. In social networks in focus, people are organized and interact primarily with the teacher or with the social actors who assume the teacher functions. Whereas the available technological resources enable flow of information from different sources, which we observe is that the teacher is the key person to articulate learning in social networks. The configuration of the analog classroom is transferred to the behaviors and expectations of what should happen in the classroom in social networks. This dynamic provides subsidies to propose guidelines for teacher training and guidelines for conducting Education Network. The dissemination of information and the circulation of actors bridge on the network contribute to social presence there. Social presence is a key part of cognitive presence. The use of social networking sites in education has educational value as long as there is social presence addressed to education. It is necessary for an actor or some actors to act in order to ensure teaching and learning relations. / Frente a la abundancia de información y acciones en las redes sociales y la proliferación de las invitaciones a la utilización de estos sitios en la educación, esta tesis propone la investigación de las estructuras relacionales que surgen de las interacciones sociales en grupos en la red social Facebook. El objetivo general es entender cómo las interacciones de la red social y las redes puede contribuir a una red de educación basado en el análisis de los patrones de interacción social en grupos en Facebook. Se analizaron dos casos diferentes de redes sociales organizados en el marco de los procesos pedagógicos. Recursos Me gusta, Comentar y Me Gusta el Comentario son los tipos de red de interacción social que dieron origen a los gráficos analizados. La temática de los puestos y los tipos de apoyo tecnológico son identificados en el análisis de los patrones de interacción social en la red y las redes en las que podemos destacar la participación, el compromiso y el sentido de pertenencia de los actores. El análisis de redes sociales es el método utilizado para entender la dinámica de las interacciones. El Modelo de Análisis de Comunicaciones asíncronas se adopta en el análisis del contenido de los mensajes y los comentarios de estos mensajes con el fin de poner de relieve los temas compartidos y discutidos. En las redes sociales en el enfoque, las personas se organizan e interactúan principalmente con el profesor o con los actores sociales que asumen las funciones de los maestros. Considerando que los recursos tecnológicos disponibles permiten el flujo de información de diferentes fuentes, que observamos es que el maestro es la persona clave para articular el aprendizaje en las redes sociales. La configuración del clase analógica se transfiere a los comportamientos y expectativas de lo que debería ocurrir en el aula en las redes sociales. Esta dinámica proporciona subsidios a proponer directrices para la formación del profesorado y directrices para la realización de la Red de Educación. La difusión de la información y la circulación de los actores puente en la red contribuyen a la presencia social allí. La presencia social es una parte clave de la presencia cognitiva. El uso de las redes sociales en la educación tiene un valor educativo, siempre y cuando no hay presencia social dirigida a la educación. Es necesario que un actor o algunos actores para actuar con el fin de garantizar las relaciones de enseñanza y aprendizaje.

Les réseaux sociaux sont de très grands systèmes permettant de représenter les interactions sociales entre les individus. L'analyse des réseaux sociaux est une collection de méthodes spécialement conçues pour examiner les aspects relationnels des structures sociales. L'un des défis les plus importants dans l'analyse de réseaux sociaux est le problème de prédiction de liens. La prédiction de liens étudie l'existence potentielle de nouvelles associations parmi des entités sociales non connectées. La plupart des approches de prédiction de liens se concentrent sur une seule source d'information, c'est-à-dire sur les aspects topologiques du réseau (par exemple le voisinage des nœuds) en supposant que les données sociales sont entièrement fiables. Pourtant, ces données sont généralement bruitées, manquantes et sujettes à des erreurs d'observation causant des distorsions et des résultats probablement erronés. Ainsi, cette thèse propose de gérer le problème de prédiction de liens sous incertitude. D'abord, deux nouveaux modèles de graphes de réseaux sociaux uniplexes et multiplexes sont introduits pour traiter l'incertitude dans les données sociales. L'incertitude traitée apparaît au niveau des liens et est représentée et gérée à travers le cadre de la théorie des fonctions de croyance. Ensuite, nous présentons huit méthodes de prédiction de liens utilisant les fonctions de croyance fondées sur différentes sources d'information dans les réseaux sociaux uniplexes et multiplexes. Nos contributions s'appuient sur les informations disponibles sur le réseau social. Nous combinons des informations structurelles aux informations des cercles sociaux et aux attributs des nœuds, ainsi que l'apprentissage supervisé pour prédire les nouveaux liens. Des tests sont effectués pour valider la faisabilité et l'intérêt de nos approches à celles de la littérature. Les résultats obtenus sur les données du monde réel démontrent que nos propositions sont pertinentes et valables dans le contexte de prédiction de liens. / Social networks are large structures that depict social linkage between millions of actors. Social network analysis came out as a tool to study and monitor the patterning of such structures. One of the most important challenges in social network analysis is the link prediction problem. Link prediction investigates the potential existence of new associations among unlinked social entities. Most link prediction approaches focus on a single source of information, i.e. network topology (e.g. node neighborhood) assuming social data to be fully trustworthy. Yet, such data are usually noisy, missing and prone to observation errors causing distortions and likely inaccurate results. Thus, this thesis proposes to handle the link prediction problem under uncertainty. First, two new graph-based models for uniplex and multiplex social networks are introduced to address uncertainty in social data. The handled uncertainty appears at the links level and is represented and managed through the belief function theory framework. Next, we present eight link prediction methods using belief functions based on different sources of information in uniplex and multiplex social networks. Our proposals build upon the available information in data about the social network. We combine structural information to social circles information and node attributes along with supervised learning to predict new links. Tests are performed to validate the feasibility and the interest of our link prediction approaches compared to the ones from literature. Obtained results on social data from real-world demonstrate that our proposals are relevant and valid in the link prediction context.

La tesi ha l’obiettivo di analizzare il cambiamento organizzativo in una prospettiva di social network analysis, sfruttando dati longitudinali raccolti a seguito della modifica della struttura organizzativa in un Policlinico Universitario italiano. Il manoscritto è organizzativo in tre paper. Il primo paper si focalizza sul tema del rapporto tra network formali e network informali, analizzando come la modifica del primo comporti una corrispondente variazione nel secondo. Il paper dimostra come, in assenza di strutture organizzative ben formalizzate, gli individui tendono ad allacciare nuovi legami con colleghi che appartengono alla stessa specializzazione. Il secondo paper, invece, attingendo prettamente alla letteratura di comportamento organizzativo, analizza il tema della dinamicità del network, fornendo evidenze in relazione alla stabilità del network stesso a seguito del cambiamento. Particolare attenzione, è inoltre, dedicata alle dinamiche intra – team e al ruolo di quest’ultime nell’accettazione o meno del cambiamento. Infine, il terzo paper sviluppa il tema della network density e di come quest’ultima possa essere correlato al cambiamento organizzativo, in termini di reazione al cambiamento. Inoltre, si dimostra come la formalizzazione abbia un impatto positivo sulla densità del network, specie in contesti organizzativi caratterizzati da una bassa gerarchia e coordinamento orizzontale. / This thesis aims to analyze organizational change in a social network analysis perspective, exploiting longitudinal data collected after a modification of the organizational structure in an Italian Teaching Hospital The manuscript is organized into three papers. The first paper focuses on the theme of the relationship between formal networks and informal networks, analyzing how the modification of the first involves a corresponding variation in the second. The paper demonstrates how, in the absence of formalized organizational structures, individuals tend to establish new ties with colleagues who belong to the same specialization. The second paper, drawing purely from the organizational behavior literature, analyzes the issue of the network dynamics , providing evidence and antecedents for network stability in response to organizational change. Particular attention is also given to the intra - team dynamics and the impact of individual perception of collective properties in driving employees in accepting or not the organizational change. Finally, the third paper develops the theme of network density and how the latter can be related to organizational change, in terms of reaction to change. Furthermore, it is shown how formalization has a positive impact on network density, especially in organizational contexts characterized by a low hierarchy and horizontal coordination.

A pesquisa teve como objetivo identificar o Capital Científico e o Capital Social dos agentes presentes na produção científica que aborda questões relativas às Linguagens Documentárias, aos sistemas de organização do conhecimento em estudos no campo da Knowledge Organization (KO) e temas correlatos. A hipótese adotada foi a de que as noções de Campo Científico e as noções correlatas de habitus e, sobretudo de \'Capital Social\' e \'Capital Científico\', se apresentaram como uma perspectiva teórico-metodológica produtiva para compreender as redes de relações entre os pesquisadores (autores e coautores), suas citações (autores citados) e de temas pesquisados. Partimos do reconhecimento de que a Ciência da Informação (CI), cuja origem está na Documentação francesa, influenciou as literaturas francófona, hispanófona e lusófona e desenvolveu um legado que teve, entre suas referências, a linguagem, em seus aspectos semânticos, sintáticos e pragmáticos. Identificamos quais as principais tendências dos estudos de KO verificando que subtemas foram privilegiados e que redes científicas surgiram, a partir da análise de um corpus constituído pela produção bibliográfica publicada entre 1997 e 2011 em espanhol, francês e português e repertoriada pelas bases de dados Library Information Science Abstract (LISA), Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Scopus e Web of Science. O corpus foi selecionado observando-se o título, o resumo e as palavras-chave e organizado a partir do Classification System for Knowledge Organization Literature, da ISKO Para a organização dos dados e a identificação das redes de agentes, recorremos à metodologia de Análise de Redes Sociais (ARS) e à Bibliometria. Os resultados permitiram reunir informações sobre a distribuição dos artigos por idiomas, por periódicos, por coocorrência das palavras-chave, e por grupos temáticos, além da identificação de redes entre autores e grupos temáticos. Para a análise da autoria utilizamos a lei do elitismo, que permitiu identificar uma elite de pesquisa e uma frente de pesquisa correspondente. Os resultados foram analisados sob a perspectiva da análise sociológica de Pierre Bourdieu, cujas contribuições teóricas e conceituais permitiram mapear o Campo Científico correspondente e analisar o comportamento sociológico do campo observado. A hipótese da pesquisa foi validada, confirmando-se que os conceitos sociológicos adotados por Bourdieu constituem uma ferramenta para a otimização da análise dos dados. / In this research we aimed to identify the scientific and social capital of the agents present in the scientific production that addresses issues related to documentary language and knowledge organization systems in studies in the field of Knowledge Organization (KO) and related subjects. The hypothesis adopted was that the notions of the scientific field and the related notions of habitus and especially of \'social capital\' and \'scientific capital\' presented as a productive theoretical and methodological perspective to understand the networks of relationships between researchers (authors and co-authors), their quotations (cited authors) and researched topics. We start with the recognition that Information Science, whose origin is in the French documentation, influenced the Francophone, Lusophone, and Hispanophone literatures and developed a legacy that had, among its references, language in its semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic aspects. We identified the main trends of KO studies facing the issues of language, noting that sub-themes were privileged, and that scientific networks emerged from the analysis of a corpus consisting of bibliographical works published between 1997 and 2011 in Spanish, French, and Portuguese and also those listed in the Library Information Science Abstract (LISA), the Library, the Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LIST), the Scopus, and the Web of Science databases. The corpus was selected by observing the title, the abstract, and the keywords and it was arranged with the Classification System for Knowledge Organization Literature of the ISKO. For the systematization of the data and the identification of the agent networks we used the Social Network Analysis (ARS) methodology and Bibliometrics. The results allowed us to gather information on the distribution of articles by language, journals, co-occurrence of keywords, thematic groups, and the identification of networks among authors, quotation, and thematic groups. For the authorship analysis we used the law of elitism which allowed us to identify a research elite and a group of corresponding search. The results were analyzed from the sociological analysis perspective of Pierre Bourdieu, whose theoretical and conceptual contributions helped to map the corresponding scientific field and to analyze the sociological behavior of the observed field. The research hypothesis was validated confirming the sociological concepts adopted by Bourdieu as a tool for the optimization of data analysis.

Les catastrophes naturelles relèvent des grands défis pour gouvernements et acteurs humanitaires à cause des conséquences et effets sur la population. En Chine, les désastres, fortement hétérogènes, ont des lourds impacts au niveau national. Dans le cadre d’un control gouvernemental et un développement de la société civile chinoise, les ONGs internationales conçoivent et enrichissent ses relations et collaborations, dessinant des réseaux inter-organisationnels qui sont rarement objet d’étude. Voici la problématique envisagée dans ce travail pour la période de 2012-2013 dans le domaine des catastrophes naturelles en Chine. Cela dit, on propose une recherche basée dans des méthodes mixtes pour l’analyse des réseaux des ONGs internationales (à partir des rapports on-line) et des entretiens à des informateurs clés pour comprendre leurs perspectives et tendances dans ses collaborations.Parmi nos conclusions, il faut souligner une faible densité de liens dans les deux réseaux complets. L’ampliation augmente fortement la complexité d’un réseau dans lequel les acteurs gouvernementaux de la Chine et de Hong Kong se démarquent en termes de prestige. Trois organisations appartenant au Mouvement de la Croix Rouge présentent des mesures de prestige les plus élevées. Ce groupe affiche des hautes valeurs d’homophilie de type dans le groupe. Les ONGs de caractère religieux montrent également des résultats élevés d’homophilie. Les entretiens fournissent de l’information en ce qui concerne les relations de communication et le renforcement de capacités qui n’apparaissent pas dans les rapports. Le positionnement en relation aux ONGs quasi gouvernementales varie d’accord au profil de l’organisation. Le procès et changements dans lequel la regulation et enregistrement sont subis crée de l’expectation et espoir parmi les informateurs mais aussi de la méfiance dans un cas. Finalement, l’implantation des organisations en Chine continentale et Hong Kong révèle des stratégies associées à l’accréditation, la stabilité et le financement par les dons. / Natural disasters represent an enormous threat to governments and humanitarian agents due to their impact on society and vulnerable population. China’s natural disasters are highly heterogeneous leading to dramatic consequences on a national level. In the context of a developing Chinese civil society framed by a governmental control, International NGOs are constanly establishing relationships between them and other actors. Therefore and considering the very few studies on inter-organizational networks based on NGOs, the study aim to explore networks of international NGOs’ working on natural disasters’ assistance in China in 2012-2013. A mixed methodology based on Social Newtork Analysis and in-depth interviews has been designed to study humanitarian agents’ collaboration and its patterns. Networks are represented using directed ties and binary relations from NGOs’ annual reports data, complementing the analysis with ten interviews of ten organizations’ key informants.The research findings display a low density of links of whole networks’ results. Also, we observe how extending the boundaries to other organizations, led into a higher amount of nodes placing Chinese and Hong Kong governmental bodies as prestige actors. Two Red Cross organizations obtained high prestige values, as well. In the same direction, Red Cross and religious organizations groups have shown high homophily results. The interviews have provided a more precise information regarding some non-declared relations on the annual reports based on communication and building capacities. Depending on the organization profile and its approach to humanitarian relief assistance, NGOs’ perspective on governmental organizations and GONGOs slightly differed one from each other. Some expectation and hope regarding regulation’s changes on register have been found amongst the interviewees. However, one organization showed concern. Finally, organizations’ offices placement in Chinese cities reveals some strategies related to registration but also to fundraising and stability, affecting both their established and potential links. / El fenómeno de los desastres naturales es uno de los mayores problemas que enfrentan los gobiernos y agentes humanitarios, debido a sus consecuencias y sus efectos sobre población vulnerable. En China, los desastres de tipología diversa conllevan grandes repercusiones a nivel nacional. En el marco de un control gubernamental y un desarrollo de la sociedad civil, las ONGs internacionales tejen relaciones y colaboraciones, formando redes inter-organizacionales que resultan objeto de escaso estudio. Es este el problema que hemos querido estudiar para el periodo de 2012 - 2013 en el ámbito de los desastres naturales en China. Para ello utilizamos un diseño de método mixto de análisis de redes (a través de informes on-line) y entrevistas en profundidad, explorando desde esta perspectiva su implementación y las tendencias en las colaboraciones de estos actores.Entre nuestras principales conclusiones, destacamos una baja densidad de vínculos de las dos primeras redes completas obtenidas. La ampliación aumenta en gran medida la complejidad de la red en los cuales destacan en términos de prominencia agentes gubernamentales de China y de Hong Kong. Tres de las organizaciones de la Cruz Roja son las que mejores resultados obtienen en prominencia, siendo también muy elevada la homofilia por tipo en este grupo. Las ONGs de carácter religioso presentan igualmente altas medidas de homofilia. Las entrevistas arrojan luz sobre unas relaciones de comunicación y creación de capacidades que a menudo no son recogidas en los informes. El posicionamiento respecto a las cuasi-ONGs y organizaciones gubernamentales varía según el perfil de la organización. El proceso de cambio sobre el registro y su regulación generan expectación y esperanza entre los informantes, destacando también un caso de preocupación. Por último, la implantación de las organizaciones en China continental y Hong Kong revela varias estrategias asociadas al registro, la estabilidad y las donaciones.

Les modèles techniques agricoles fondés sur l’utilisation de produits phytopharmaceutiques (pesticides) ont des impacts environnementaux et sanitaires face auxquels les pouvoirs publics affichent la volonté d’une « transition écologique ». Dans ce contexte, on s’interroge de plus en plus sur la notion de verrouillage technologique pour comprendre la persistance de ces modèles et les obstacles au développement d’alternatives techniques moins consommatrices de ces produits (Cowan, Gunby, 1996 ; Vanloqueren, Baret, 2008). Les analyses mettent en avant l’importance des dimensions cognitives pour expliquer les situations de verrouillage (influence des cadres cognitifs et normes pour l’action, dispositifs matériels d’accès aux connaissances techniques – Stassart, Jamar, 2009 ; Labarthe, 2010). Parallèlement, la « participation » est souvent invoquée comme un moyen d’améliorer la mobilisation des connaissances dans les situations de choix technologiques (Barber, 1984 ; Callon et al., 2001…).L’objectif de cette thèse est de mettre à l’épreuve cette conviction sur la participation, à partir de l’étude du cas de l’agriculture de conservation (AC) en France et au Brésil. L’AC est un modèle technologique innovant qui émerge comme « candidat » à l’agriculture durable dans le débat public, en dépit de la dépendance de certaines techniques à l’utilisation d’herbicides.Pour comprendre les effets de la participation sur la capacité des acteurs à accéder aux connaissances et à faire des choix technologiques, la thèse analyse la façon dont l’idée de participation se décline concrètement dans le régime d’accès aux connaissances en agriculture. L’évolution de la politique agricole en France et le passage d’un référentiel « modernisateur » à un « référentiel de marché » (Muller, 2000) a fait l’objet de nombreuses études, mais peu souvent menées depuis le point de vue des connaissances. Or, de profonds changements sont en cours, suite au tournant libéral des années 1990 et à la transformation du rôle de l’Etat vers la mise en œuvre d’une régulation par l’information (Majone, 1996). L’analyse de ces transformations en France révèle que l’Etat ne s’est pas doté des dispositifs institutionnels et matériels adéquats pour assurer cette fonction de régulation dans le domaine de l’agriculture et de l’utilisation des pesticides. Dans ce contexte, la participation est invoquée pour organiser de grandes consultations nationales (Grenelle de l’Environnement) visant à produire du consensus sur des sujets controversés, tandis que les moyens matériels d’accès à des connaissances adéquates pour évaluer et débattre des options technologiques font défaut dans les services de l’Etat et auprès d’autres acteurs du débat public. adéquats La participation est aussi utilisée pour renvoyer l’innovation à des dispositifs locaux « en partenariat » ou « en réseaux » associant public et privé (et notamment les firmes d’amont fournisseuses de produits phytopharmaceutiques, porteuses de conflits d’intérêt), où les moyens mutualisés pour l’accès aux connaissances manquent. L’analyse des réseaux d’action publique impliqués dans le développement de l’AC confirme cette fragmentation croissante des conditions d’accès aux connaissances, entre accumulation des ressources cognitives par les firmes, et inégalités d’accès aux connaissances entre agriculteurs développant des alternatives. Dans ce contexte, la référence à « la participation » ne permet pas de compenser ces changements structurels à l’œuvre, et masque au contraire le retrait de l’Etat d’une politique volontariste en faveur de la réduction de pesticides et la perte d’un certain nombre de ses prérogatives liées aux connaissances. La dimension comparative avec le Brésil permet de confirmer l’existence de tels effets « pervers » en termes de dépolitisation des débats sur les évolutions du régime d’accès aux connaissances. / Intensive use of pesticides in agriculture has environmental and sanitary impacts that led to the need for less harmful techniques. Policy makers are claiming for an “ecological transition” of the sector but they are facing technological lock-ins : pesticides-based solutions remain dominant because of institutional and cognitive factors that prevent the development of other alternatives (Cowan, Gunby, 1996; Vanloqueren, Baret, 2008…). In this context, the idea of enlarging the participation of new actors in technological decisions has gained success as it is supposed to enlarge the range of available evidence and lead to better and fairer technological choices (Barber, 1984; Callon et al., 2001; Elgert, 2010)This PhD research aims at questioning the idea of participation as a way to unlock technological lock-ins , using the case of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in France and Brazil, an innovation presented as based on participatory dynamics of R&D and a way to achieve sustainable agriculture, in spite of the dependence of some practices on an intensive use of herbicides. Data was collected from academic literature, documentary analysis, and semi directive or collective interviews with 51 actors both in France and Brazil. Results show the deep changes the regime of knowledge in agriculture has undergone in the last decades under the liberalization of the sector- and why referring to the idea of participation is unefficient to counterbalance these structural changes, or can even have perverse effects.Academic literature described the evolution of agricultural policies, at the international, European and French levels, analyzing the “environmental” turn of the 1980s and the “liberal” turn of the 1990s-2000s (Fouilleux, 2003; Muller, 2000; Trouvé, 2007). But few studies focused on the impacts these changes had on how decision makers and farmers have access to scientific and technical evidence to innovate and cope with new situations. This PhD research shows how the regime of knowledge in France evolved from the modernization period (1960s) - when access to reliable evidence was an issue of public concern and funding in the State administrations and extension services; to a turning point in the 2000s when the State progressively disengaged from the debate on the technological trajectory of the sector and private firms became more and more implicated. In the case of CA, the results of a policy networks analysis show the concentration of material resources to produce robust evidence (R&D, extension services, databases ) in the hands of private firms wishing to develop technological packages based on the use of pesticides. On the other hand, local farmers trying to reduce their consumption of pesticides lack resources to systematically evaluate the innovations they produce.In this context, the idea of participation refers to organizing big national consultations (as the Grenelle de l’Environnement) that rather aim at producing consensus than shedding light on existing controversies and alternatives. It is also used to discharge the responsibility for producing pesticide-less alternatives to different kinds of partnerships at a local level (sometimes associating private firms with commercial interests in selling pesticides).This research therefore shows that, besides other institutional and cognitive factors, the issue of accessing adequate evidence is of crucial importance to understand changes in policy making and the State and at the heart of great economic and socio-political conflicts. It also highlights the importance of taking into account structural determinants and evidence-related power games in order to evaluate the impacts of “participation” on improving technological choices.