Sociologies visuelles. Histoire et pistes de recherche

Abstract

The use of the expression "visual sociology" is well recognized and stabilized in the Anglo-Saxon world, but its francophone translation under the phrase "sociologie visuelle" remains precarious and open to question. The label "sociologies visuelles" is explicitly presented in plural form in order to portray the francophone space, which is weakly institutionalized. From visual studies to the "sociologie visuelle", a "visual turn" has characterized the social sciences since the end of the 1970's, but it has taken different forms in the English-speaking and the francophone worlds. In the former space, visual sociology is often associated with an ethnographic approach, using photography rather than film, following such figures as Howard Becker or Douglas Harper. Meanwhile, the francophone space characterizes itself by a more filmic than photographic sociology, especially about the theme of work, and by a more pedagogic than scientific activity. Beyond the diversity of visual sociologies, we identify three stimulating research directions offered by visual approaches : the articulation between cases and types, the construction of images sequences, and the exploitation of the communication potentialities offered by images, in particular in the form of participative research.