Une « Banque Du Savoir » ? Enquête Sur La Nature Et La Politique De L’Expertise De La Banque Mondiale

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Une « Banque Du Savoir » ? Enquête Sur La Nature Et La Politique De L’Expertise De La Banque Mondiale Préparée à Mines ParisTech Une « Banque du savoir » ? Enquête sur la nature et la politique de l’expertise de la Banque mondiale Soutenue par Composition du jury : Félix BOILÈVE Vincent GAYON Examinateur Le 30 juin 2020 Maître de conférences, Université Paris Dauphine-PSL Pierre JACQUET Invité Président, Global Development Network École doctorale n° 543 Brice LAURENT Directeur de thèse Sciences de la Décision, des Chargé de recherche, Mines ParisTech Organisations, de la Société Philippe LAVIGNE DELVILLE Rapporteur et de l'Échange Directeur de recherche, IRD Olivier LECLERC Président du jury Directeur de recherche au CNRS, Université Jean Monnet Saint-Étienne Spécialité Sciences, technologies, Pascale TROMPETTE Rapporteure Directrice de recherche au CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes sociétés Vololona RABEHARISOA Directrice de thèse Professeure, Mines ParisTech Une « Banque du savoir » ? Enquête sur la nature et la politique de l’expertise de la Banque mondiale Remerciements Je tiens tout d’abord à remercier Pascale Trompette, Olivier Leclerc, Philippe Lavigne Delville, Pierre Jacquet et Vincent Gayon de me faire l’honneur de participer à ce jury de thèse. Je me réjouis d’ores et déjà d’échanger avec eux. Relecteurs patients, bienveillants et toujours pertinents de mes textes à rallonge, Vololona Rabeharisoa et Brice Laurent ont grandement participé à faire exister et donner consistance à cette thèse. En dehors de leur supervision intellectuelle, leur soutien constant et nos discussions sur des thématiques variées ont fait de nos échanges de véritables moments de plaisir. Je leur adresse toute ma gratitude. Le Centre de Sociologie de l’Innovation est un lieu idéal pour effectuer sa thèse. Alexandre Mallard en est un directeur toujours affable, autant pour faciliter la vie quotidienne des doctorants que pour participer à la réflexion intellectuelle collective du CSI. Madeleine Akrich, au fil de ses remarques lors des séminaires du CSI, lors de mon comité de suivi, ou lors de l’enseignement de « Description de controverses » au cours duquel j’ai eu la chance d’encadrer un groupe d’élèves avec elle, m’a appris une maxime essentielle, que j’ai essayé de faire mienne lors de l’écriture de cette thèse : les réflexions les plus riches et les arguments les plus stimulants sont inversement proportionnels à la quantité de jargon sociologique que l’on y incorpore. Antoine Hennion, Fabian Muniesa, et David Pontille, qui ont animé ou continuent à animer l’atelier doctoral du CSI, ont su me transmettre conseils de lecture, techniques d’écriture, ficelles du métier, et, plus important encore, le plaisir de la recherche. Je tiens aussi à remercier tous ceux qui, lors des séminaires du Centre ou lors de discussions plus informelles, ont contribué à alimenter mes réflexions : Béatrice Cointe, Jérôme Denis, Liliana Doganova, Vincent-Arnaud Chappe, Morgan Meyer, et Didier Torny. Florence Paterson et Frédéric Vergnaud font du CSI un lieu très convivial, et je les en remercie ; quant à Catherine Lucas, sa bonne humeur et son impressionnante efficacité pour démêler tous les problèmes administratifs (in)imaginables me manquent déjà. Merci à tous mes camarades doctorants du CSI, Guillaume Yon, Mathieu Baudrin, les « 3A » Marie Alauzen, Quentin Dufour et Alexandre Violle, Émilie Perault, Félix « 1 » Talvard, Sophie Tabouret, Clément Gasull, Loïc Riom, Jean Danielou, Mathilde Pellizzari et Cornelius Heimstädt. Nassima Abdelghafour, par ses intuitions et ses indignations, fut une compagne de route idéale pour enquêter sur les questions de développement et de pauvreté. Evan Fisher et 5 Mathieu Rajaoba méritent un remerciement tout spécifique : leur double passion pour la recherche et pour les goûters aura été d’une aide précieuse. Je tiens ensuite à remercier tous ceux qui, à un moment ou à un autre, ont échangé avec moi sur des fragments de la thèse ou sur des articles, ou ont enrichi mes recherches par nos échanges sur les sciences sociales : Isaline Bergamaschi, Paul Bouet, Véra Ehrenstein (clin d’œil au séminaire Global envié par tout le CSI), Lara Gautier, Vincent Gayon, Pierre Jacquet, Romain Lecler, Benjamin Lemoine, Dominique Pestre, Pascale Trompette et Clair-Antoine Veyrier. Mes sincères remerciements vont aussi à Pierre Alayrac, Sophie Muraccioli, et encore Nassima Abdelghafour qui ont relu et commenté plusieurs chapitres de la thèse. Le Corps des Mines a accepté de laisser s’égarer l’un de ses membres en l’autorisant à entreprendre une thèse en sciences sociales. Qu’il en soit remercié. A posteriori, ce membre doit avouer aux responsables du Corps qu’il ignore les raisons qui l’ont poussé dans cette aventure longue et sinueuse. Tout au plus peut-il citer, pêle-mêle, une crainte de rejoindre l’administration avant d’avoir satisfait un peu plus avant sa soif de connaissance, un désir de s’ouvrir à d’autres savoirs académiques que des mathématiques et une physique réclamant une vocation pleine et entière pour être poursuivies à plus haut niveau, ou encore tout simplement la joie de refuser les parcours déjà tout tracés. L’aventure en valait la peine. Pour des raisons d’anonymisation, je ne peux pas les citer : mais tous les chefs de projet ou consultants des institutions sur lesquelles j’ai enquêtées pendant ma thèse, Banque mondiale en tête, ont contribué de façon décisive à rendre possible cette thèse. Ils m’ont ouvert les portes de leurs bureaux et de leurs réunions, se sont confiés à moi avec enthousiasme, et parfois même m’ont employé. Leur liberté de parole tranchait souvent avec l’image d’opacité que l’on peut se faire de la Banque mondiale. Certains sont devenus des amis. En particulier, Pierre Jacquet a accepté de m’ouvrir les portes d’un projet mis en œuvre par le Global Development Network ; le chef de projet de cette activité – nommé Victor dans la thèse – a de son côté non seulement permis à une partie de ma recherche de se dérouler en pratique, mais a tenu à commenter toujours avec attention et intérêt mes travaux. Qu’ils en soient tous remerciés. J’ai une pensée particulière pour mes amis qui m’accompagnent depuis de nombreuses années : les Tourangeaux Laurent et Pierre-Nicolas ; Valentin et ses deux enfants, mon filleul Basile et sa sœur Aliénor ; ceux d’H4 puis de bien autres endroits, Emma, Cyril, Martin, et Julien ; les colocs, Raphaël et Tiffany, puis Aubert ; le COGE et surtout ses violoncellistes, Antoine l’historien, Robin l’histrion, et Sophie l’éditrice corse et rebelle ; les musiciens insaisissables Simon et Clément ; ceux du Corps et « ubériseurs » de l’État, Clément et Laura. 6 Merci également à ma famille : mes grands-parents, mes parents, mes frères et sœurs Victor, Alice et Juliette, ainsi qu’Augustin, le dernier arrivé, qui sera le premier parvenu à détourner les discussions des repas de famille de la médecine. Finalement, je dédie cette thèse à Claire, que j’ai eu la chance d’avoir à mes côtés pendant toutes ces années. Son aide fut indicible, comme ma gratitude ; qu’elle daigne cependant la recevoir. 7 Table des matières REMERCIEMENTS ............................................................................................................................................ 5 TABLE DES MATIÈRES .................................................................................................................................... 8 ACRONYMES .................................................................................................................................................... 12 LISTE DES FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... 13 INTRODUCTION GÉNÉRALE : COMMENT SAISIR L’ACTION DE LA BANQUE MONDIALE PAR SON EXPERTISE ? ............................................................................................................................................ 14 1. FORMULATION DE LA QUESTION DE RECHERCHE ........................................................................................... 14 2. LA POLITIQUE, LES SAVOIRS, L’EXPERTISE ET L’ACTION DANS LA LITTÉRATURE SUR L’AIDE AU DÉVELOPPEMENT............................................................................................................................................... 21 2.1. Des savoirs entre idéologie politique, dépolitisation, repolitisation et maintien de l’homogénéité politique ....................................................................................................................................................... 22 2.2. Des experts, des savoirs et des projets pris entre règles organisationnelles et micro-politique ........... 35 3. L’EXPERTISE COMME OPÉRATION AU CŒUR DE LA BANQUE DU SAVOIR ........................................................ 45 3.1. Dire, réagir ou agir par l’expertise et les savoirs ................................................................................. 45 3.2. L’expertise comme opération sur des identités et des problèmes ......................................................... 51 3.3. Un écosystème de savoirs au cœur d’opérations économiques ............................................................. 63 3.4. Approcher les opérations de la Banque mondiale : les terrains de la thèse ......................................... 68 3.5. Le problème de la représentativité de l’expertise et de la Banque mondiale ........................................ 73 4. PLAN DE LA THÈSE .......................................................................................................................................
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