ALCARAS JEAN-ROBERT

Structure(s)

Laboratory or team

UPR 3788 -JPEG - Legal, Political, Economic and Management Sciences Laboratory

Component and department

Political, Economic and Social Sciences Department
UFR Law, Economics, Management

Research topics

I prepared my doctoral thesis under the supervision of Professor Jean-Louis Le Moigne, a renowned specialist in the systems approach, engineering approaches and constructivist epistemologies. Having become a specialist in H.A. Simon (an economist, sociologist and psychologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1978 for his seminal research into the different forms of rationality at work in organisations), my research now focuses mainly on the problematic relationships between players and organisations (public, voluntary or private) involved in cultural action and social intervention and economic and managerial rationales. Member of the Property, Standards, Contracts Laboratory (which became JPEG in 2023) since it was founded in 1996, I have had to change research themes and areas several times and work in multidisciplinary teams. I now work mainly on the problematic relationships between cultural and social action players and structures (public, voluntary or private) and economic and managerial rationales. My most recent publications focus mainly on the sectors of Cultureof theSocial and Solidarity Economy (SSE), theSocial assistanceof theSocial actions, the Social Policy and Social interventions.

Biography

Born on 26 August 1964, I am married with two children. I have lived and worked as a Senior Lecturer in Economics in Avignon since 1994. For a long time, I held a number of teaching and administrative posts in this Faculty (head of department, assistant to the Dean in charge of teaching and training, Director of Studies, etc.). I am still actively involved in the life of my institution. I previously worked in other universities (Paris, Lyon, Aix-en-Provence) before settling in Avignon for a while... A former student at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (1985-1990), Agrégé d'économie et gestion (1988), Maîtrise d'économie à la Sorbonne (Paris 1), DEA de Génie Industriel à l'Ecole Centrale de Paris, Docteur ès Sciences Economiques de l'Université d'Aix-Marseille (my thesis was entitled "Sur la modélisation des processus d'adaptation socio-économiques"), I am currently a researcher at JPEG, after having been a member of GREQAM (UMR CNRS at Aix-Marseille), and above all of GRASCE at the University of Aix-Marseille (at the time URA-CNRS, a laboratory directed by my thesis supervisor, to whom I owe a great deal: Jean-Louis LE MOIGNE, Professor Emeritus of Systems Science). On the teaching side, I've worked with all kinds of people, from 1st to 5th year, from initial training to continuing education, from the very young to the not so young, from trade unionists in training to brilliant young Americans who've come to discover France and Europe... I enjoy dealing with a wide range of people, but above all I enjoy the contact and constructive exchanges with students who are interested in learning more about the world around them. and constructive exchanges with students who are interested and motivated by their curiosity and the pleasure of learning - whatever their strengths or weaknesses. As far as research is concerned, I originally specialised in fairly specialised areas that I was passionate about - the history of economic thought, systems engineering and the epistemology of the social sciences. Over time, without denying my interest in these initial research subjects, I felt the need to work on more concrete subjects, more directly linked to my personal civic and political commitments.

Publications

• "Planning is adapting (with F. Lacroux). Review Economy & SocietySG (Management Sciences) series no. 26-27, June-July 1999, pp. 7-37.
• "Les processus de décision dans les organisations: une démarche nouvelle ou renouvelée" (with G. Paché & P. Gianfaldoni), in Décider dans les organisations: dialogues critiques entre économie et gestion, J.R. Alcaras, G. Paché and P. Gianfaldoni (dir.), L'Harmattan, Paris, September 2004, Introduction générale, p. 20-32.
• "Les conceptions de la décision en sciences économiques : vers une approche ingénieriale ?", in Décider dans les organisations : dialogues critiques entre économie et gestion, J.R. Alcaras, G. Paché and P. Gianfaldoni (dir.), L'Harmattan, Paris, September 2004, Chapter II, p. 57-78.
• "Cooperative banks and social innovations (with N. Richez-Battesti, P. Gianfaldoni, G. Gloukoviezoff). RECMA, International Review of the Social EconomyNo 301, July 2006, p. 26-41.
• "Les banques coopératives en France, le défi de la performance et de la solidarité", edited by P. Gianfaldoni and N. Richez-Battesti, with contributions from P. Gianfaldoni and J.-R. Alcaras, L'Harmattan, 2007. Richez-Battesti, with contributions from P. Gianfaldoni and J.-R. Alcaras, L'Harmattan, 2007.
• "Can the protection of property rights encourage cultural creation?in Copyright & CultureLa propriété intellectuelle autrement", Dalloz, Thèmes & Commentaires series, Paris 2007, pp. 55-74.
• "Relations between cooperative banks and social economy organisations: proximity and partnerships".(with P. Gianfaldoni & N. Richez-Battesti). RECMA, International Review of the Social EconomyNo 311, February 2009, p. 46-58.
• "Economic theories of decision making put to the test of quantification - When to symbolise is not necessarily to quantify".. Review New Perspectives in Social Sciencesspecial issue Economists in the City, edited by Gabriel Colletis & Olivier Brossard, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 161-194.
• "Social performance' as a horizon? Departmental directors of social assistance and action and their perceptions of managerialisation". (with Christèle Marchand, Guillaume Marrel, Magali Nonjon)Revue Française d'Administration Publique2011/4 no. 140, pp. 757-771.
• "Jean-Louis Le Moigne, un singulier modèle de 'chercheur engagé'", in Agir et penser en complexité avec Jean-Louis Le Moigne - Témoignages de mises en actes, Dominique Génelot and Marie-José Avenier (dir.), L'Harmattan, Paris, 2012, Chapter 3, pp. 27-40.
• "Les élites locales du Welfare français à l'épreuve de la "performance sociale"" (with Ch. Marchand, G. Marrel & M. Nonjon), in L'État social dans tous ses états, Claire Bonnard et Manuel Boucher (dir.), Coll. "Recherche et Transformation Sociale", L'Harmattan, Paris, 2014, Chapter 1, pp. 55-70.
• "Is culture soluble in economic performance?", in Cultures régionales, développement économique: des ressources territoriales pour les économies régionales, René Kahn, Jean-Michel Kosianski and Roseline Le Squère (eds.), October 2014, p. 75-94.
• "When directors of departmental social services take up management: singular and equivocal representations and practices". (with Christèle Marchand, Guillaume Marrel, Magali Nonjon)Public Policy and Management, 31/3, July-September 2014, p. 337-356.
• "The Managerial Conversion of Senior Civil Servants: a convenient Myth for the French Local Welfare State?" (with Guillaume Marrel, Christèle Marchand, Magali Nonjon)International Review of Administrative Sciencesarticle published online in the On line first on http://ras.sagepub.com. September 29, 2015, p. 1-18.
• "Comprendre pour agir et agir pour comprendre dans le champ des Politiques Sociales : construction d'un dispositif pédagogique de professionnalisation en Master", (with P. Gianfaldoni & L. Manoury), in Comment former à l'ESS, J. Stoessel-Ritz & M. Blanc (dir.), Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Mars 2020, p. 217-231.