18 juin 2021
Ce document est lié à :
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1080/03085147.2021.1903772
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
Julien Merlin et al., « Promise engineering: Investment and its conflicting anticipations in the French mining revival », HAL-SHS : sociologie, ID : 10.1080/03085147.2021.1903772
This paper analyses promises made by companies to various publics, including global investors, national public administrative bodies, and local populations. We speak of 'promise engineering' to describe both the integration of the making of promises in mining exploration operations, and the attempted articulation of promises made to different publics with different concerns. We focus on the French 'mining revival', which prompted exploration projects that became controversial, and integrated a government-led approach meant to introduce an objective of 'responsibility' in mining operations. Mining junior companies attempted to make promises that were both technical and social, while responsibility proved consistent with the crucial role of financial investment. We show that promise engineering offers an analytical lens for studying anticipation practices in industrial projects and the opposition these projects face.