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Alexandre Mallard

Alexandre Mallard

Research Director

Center · CSI

Keywords

Team

CSI

Biography

Alexandre Mallard is a researcher in the sociology of markets and innovation, specializing in the analysis of socio-technical systems and the dynamics of economic regulation. His work takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on sociology, economics, and political science to study the mechanisms of market construction and performativity. His research focuses in particular on labels and public policy instruments, such as the Energy Savings Certificates (CEE) program or the “Grenelle Environment-Recognized ” (RGE) label, analyzing their role in shaping markets and their interplay with political and social issues. More recently, he has explored alternative pathways for pharmaceutical innovation, particularly in the field of rare diseases, by proposing the concept of social pharmaceutical innovation (SPIN) to rethink traditional models of therapeutic development. His work highlights the interactions between public, private, and nonprofit actors in the co-construction of market standards and infrastructure.

Publication(s)

Teaching

Social, Political, and Environmental Issues (SPE)

Course Director

The module includes lecture sessions and computer lab sessions. Total number of 1.5-hour sessions, excluding the exam: 18, of which 11 are lecture sessions, 5 are computer lab sessions, and 2 are for the written exam. Lecture Hall Sessions The lecture hall sessions are devoted partly to presenting course content and partly to interacting with students. Four major themes are covered during the sessions: - Social classes, diversity, and beliefs: 4 sessions - “Other” societies (introductory elements of anthropology): 2 sessions - Criticism, controversies, and social movements: 3 sessions - Politics of the Anthropocene: 2 sessions For each of these themes, an analytical model and the corresponding forms of evidence validation are presented. A handout is provided to students. Before each session, a newspaper article addressing issues related to the lecture (in an “opinion piece” format, debate pages of major daily newspapers, etc.) is distributed to students. During the lecture and in interactive sessions with students, this article is used to highlight the relevance of the course’s topics and the presented analytical model to current events. Small-Group Sessions The objective of the small-group sessions is to continue the process of studying and understanding analytical models in the social sciences by applying them to specific issues and starting with the students themselves: it is the students who will be required to present a social science analysis by giving a presentation on a book they have read. At the beginning of the course, students divide into groups of three and choose a book from among the 40 titles offered to them. They have one month to read the book and prepare a presentation. They receive guidance from a CSI faculty member: one week before the presentation, a “preparation session” is held during which students present their work to the tutor and can seek their help to delve deeper into the subject or improve their understanding. For the PC sessions, the class is divided into five groups. At each session, two books are presented. The presentations last 20 minutes, with 25 minutes set aside for comments and a question-and-answer period. The books were selected so that the two presented at each session would encourage the emergence of contrasting reflections and debates regarding differing analytical approaches to collective phenomena in the social sciences, and so as to cover a consistent range of topics. In total, the topics covered in the four seminar sessions are as follows: Social Issues The Construction of Modern Political Society Science, Technology, and Society Environmental Conflicts In addition to the four sessions dedicated to presentations, one session is devoted to preparing for the in-class exam.

Business and Industrial Management

Course Director

Various corroborating sources point out that first-year engineering students have a misguided perception of the business world and the industrial sector (whether in France or globally). Based on this observation, we can note that the ideas traditionally associated with business or industry oscillate between two perceptions, each as erroneous as the other: on the one hand, an entirely Taylorist world that, in the collective unconscious, evokes the “Modern Times” of Charles Chaplin. While this environment has not completely disappeared (we are thinking in particular of certain international sites or service activities in France such as call centers), numerous organizational responses have been implemented since the 1930s (semi-autonomous teams based on versatility, job rotation, self-monitoring of quality, empowering workers, etc.). On the other hand, a fully automated world where operators would no longer be present. Generally speaking, this gradual disappearance of operators is not fundamentally inaccurate. An INSEE study thus shows that in 2010 there were barely more than 6 million blue-collar workers in France. This trend is a consequence of the decline in industry, and it is interesting to note that it was the least-skilled segment of this workforce that was most affected, at least until the mid-1990s. Nevertheless, blue-collar workers still account for one in five jobs in the French economy, and it is reasonable to assume that this percentage is much higher on a global scale. Beyond these generalizations, a more robust observation is in order. The corporate world and the industrial world are neither homogeneous nor static. The work carried out by La Fabrique de l’Industrie clearly highlights the diversity of industrial reality (see L’indus’Trip, Dimitri Pleplé’s Logbook) and the transformation efforts underway (let us consider, as a prime example of these efforts, all the initiatives carried out under the banner of the “industry of the future”). It therefore seems important to offer students the opportunity to better understand, on the one hand, the working world and the role of the worker, and on the other hand, the diversity of the industrial landscape. The goal is to prepare students and equip them intellectually so that they are able to reflect on the transformation underway by taking into account the role of people (and more specifically that of unskilled operators performing manual tasks). These issues are of the utmost importance and affect not only employment and the competitiveness of the French economy but also, as a prerequisite, the design of industrial organizations and, more generally, businesses. The various forms of performance (quantity, quality, cost, lead time, diversity, innovation, etc.) that we collectively seek to achieve are examined, including, of course, psychosocial performance, which is linked to issues of health and quality of life at work. It is important to emphasize that the mythical figure of the manual laborer—the worker in blue overalls on an assembly line—is no longer central, but the issues raised remain relevant today. Manual labor has expanded into other sectors; half of all manual workers are employed in the service sector, 15% are in construction, and their numbers are growing in certain fields such as logistics. In this sense, the manual labor internship and its educational framework cannot be confined to the industrial sector but must address a broader range of activities (which is already the case today). Nevertheless, the rationalization methods used in industry have spread widely. In this sense, an industrial foundation remains highly relevant. The teaching team is currently working to clarify the relevant scope of activities to offer students and the nature of the positions to be selected. As we can see, the challenges are significant, and the “Introduction to Business and Industrial Management Issues” module provides students with their first opportunity to engage with these issues. In particular, the goal is to help them understand the reality of hands-on work—its characteristics, organizational structure, and management system—in other words, to become aware of the degree to which the work is prescriptive (or constrained). This introduction to the business world through operational work is an essential component of the education of future engineers. The goal is gradually to help students understand the interrelationship between the workstation, the industrial and organizational system within which it operates, the challenges of managing people, as well as the diversity of industrial and organizational structures and their artificial (non-natural) nature. It also aims to highlight the role of engineers in these transformations. The evolution of industrial systems and management methods conclude the module and pave the way for second- and third-year courses, particularly the transformation of today’s industry into the industry of the future.

Controversies

Lecturer

FORMAT RESOURCES Introduction: Contextualization through viewing and analyzing a 25-minute documentary Participatory class project documentary Bibliographic research: press, websites, reports Project; class project + personalized follow-up poly · Analysis of documents: identifying key players, developing a timeline, identifying main points of controversy Project; PC + personalized support poly Establishing contacts for interviews, conducting interviews Lectures + Flipped Classroom + project poly Bibliographic research using scientific databases Course + Project poly Training in Cortext or an equivalent system (data mining, semantic analysis, network analysis, scientometrics) Course + PC poly Different types of controversy Flipped classroom poly Problem-based learning PC + personalized support Reading social science articles related to the controversy PC Writing assignment independent work + personalized support Preparation for the oral exam independent work + personalized support

PhD supervision

  • 2025 The energy renovation market facing massification: a survey of companies' supply in Marseille LAVIGNE DELVILLE Laure
  • 2023 Making a label from a collective production between state and militant systems: Open Food Facts at the heart of the creation of environmental labeling. MAGRO Louison
  • 2021 Trade as a producer of the "street sense": the objectification of positive externalities of trade in the city PALLISSER Allyson
  • 2020 The development of bulk markets in France: From stocking strategies to ecological challenges. DIAW Abdoulaye
  • 2019 The construction of the contemporary bulk market in France: A study of the relationships between supply-side initiatives, market arrangements, and consumer practices. EUGENIO Cyrus
  • 2015 Living together in environments. Unfinished explorations of doing-with. PERAULT Emilie