Shale gas industry can be considered as a sociotechnical controversy in France and Quebec because it shows a struggle between multiple stakeholders defending diverse expertise (Collins and Evans, 2007; Wynne, 1989) and opinions, each of them trying to translate (Akrich et al., 2006, Callon, 1986) the innovative industry in their own terms. The technical definition of the industry is rejected by a social mobilization aiming at a more global understanding of the opportunity of such activity. The political instruments (Lascoumes and Le Galès, 2004) selected to manage the controversy (committees, reports, laws) bear specific power relationships and impose a particular understanding of the controversy. They legitimize some expertise over others (e.g.: geology) and even when these instruments seemed participative, they aimed to protect the special interests from the administration. We show this struggle by analyzing the institutional instruments and the expertise they bear with the expertise mobilized by the stakeholders.
