Ce que nous apprend l’histoire des indicateurs environnementaux

The purpose of the article is to analyse both the scientific and value-laden dimensions of environmental indicators on the basis of the literature published on evaluation. The latter questions the idea of an evaluation conducted by and for society using neutral indicators. It recommends adopting a more constructivist perspective that takes the history of indicators into consideration. Drawing on this perspective, we propose two ideal-types of evaluators: the manager and the partisan. Using these two figures, whose complementarity is also analysed, we call into question the idea of neutral indicators. Three environmental indicators developed in the area of hydrobiology are then described. Their history reflects the partisan and management allegiances of players that used them for evaluation.