BIS is an interdisciplinary project in humanities and social sciences bringing together sociologists, lawyers and political scientists. It analyses the socio-technical infrastructures associated with the global development of biocontrol - i.e. 'plant protection methods based on the use of biological mechanisms' - which is now the main alternative to chemical pesticides in agriculture. Based on the observation that existing infrastructures are built around pesticides and the stakeholders associated with them, the BIS project seeks to identify the conditions for the emergence of infrastructures adapted to the growth of biocontrol, in France and among European institutions, in Latin America (Mexico, Brazil) and in Africa (Côte d'Ivoire). It analyses three pillars of these infrastructures: 1/ the regulatory framework for biocontrol technologies. This involves analysing the ways in which the existing legal and regulatory infrastructure is being transformed. This transformation is an essential component of the transformation of the agricultural system, but is coming up against strong resistance. 2/ Biological input markets and their logistical component. The specific features of biocontrol technologies (short shelf life, greater dependence on agro-climatic conditions) make them difficult to produce and sell. The project will examine the conditions under which biocontrol market arrangements emerge. 3/ innovation ecosystems, based on the activities of public laboratories, private companies and public policies designed to promote the emergence of new technologies. The shift from chemical to biological control involves a major transition in the equipment, knowledge and forms of interaction of the stakeholders involved.

Since the 1970s, the social sciences have analyzed science as a historically and geographically situated social practice, an approach that has undoubtedly transformed our view of scientific production. SciOUTPOST sheds light on scientific places at the margins of French overseas territories inherited from its colonial past. This project proposes to test and theorize the concept of “scientific outpost” as one possible development for lab-studies, useful to characterize scientific places that are neither calculation centers nor fieldwork sites: these outposts are remote, permanent, relatively autonomous. They induce a temporary monastic-life where scientists and nonscientists, private and intensive professional life, are intertwined. Place-based practices in these outposts shaped by geopolitical (often postcolonial) context also produce universal knowledge and exclude possible local knowledge. This project will be pursued in an interdisciplinary manner, linking approaches from STS, political sociology, anthropology, geography and history. Moreover, SciOUTPOST will promote exchange with natural scientists working in the investigated infrastructures. Each case study will be carried out through a combination of fieldwork (in-situ observation, life histories, interviews) and archival study, guided by the shared conceptual framework. The concept of outpost will be tested by progressively extending the comparison, from a first stage already explored with space launch centers (Algeria), volcanological observatories (Martinique) and tropical biology stations (Fr. Guyana), to astronomical observatories, polar stations (Arctic and Antarctic), TAAF Islands, meteorological stations, or archaeological stations in Maghreb. The comparison will also be made between historical periods, geographic areas (and ecosystems), various disciplines, and then the "nationality" of these scientific infrastructures, beyond the French overseas territories which remain the focus of SciOUTPOST.