The Efficiency of Social Psychology: Sociology of a Technocratic Belief under the French Fourth Republic
The Efficiency of Social Psychology: Sociology of a Technocratic Belief under the French Fourth Republic

Summary/Abstract: This essay surveys the social foundations of a widely shared belief among the French planners of the Fourth Republic (1946-1958): the efficiency of social psychology. It intends to explain the technocratic credence lended to this specialty in the context of the "Productivity campaign". On the basis of primary and secondary sources (archives of the Commissariat Général au Plan, original texts, specialized literature, etc.), as well as of the bibliometric and content analysis methods, the study emphasizes the role of social tensions in the rise of social psychology and establishes that the examined belief was among other factors founded upon: a) the progressive familiarization of high ranking French civil-servants with human and social sciences since 1870; b) the state of development of expertise in the United States and the integration of social psychology in the Plan Marshall "Technical assistance program"; c) the professional strategies of French academics and experts. The research concludes that this technological transfer requires to be seized within the framework of a political sociology of human and social sciences.

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