Large evolutionary network analysis and the pragmatic sociology of controversies
Based on an unprecedented experience of bringing together two logics of research, held to be contradictory according to epistemological norms in the social sciences, this article explores how to articulate a mathematized approach to large networks, calculated from web flows, and a socio-informatics approach of controversies, evolving through non-linear critical processes. Using new digital mediations, the authors suggest some pathways for a learning interface between human interprets and algorithms. The collective cognitive device that emerges from this cross-fertilization can create a new critical approach on how social processes unfold in digital worlds, from official sites to social media.