This paper aims to present the state of the art of a rising French research community on knowledge management, who organized during the past four years, a French speaking congress (GeCSO). Interests in knowledge management (KM) come from various disciplines: economy, social, engineering. These interests are not often linked. Within the firms, KM practices vary a lot depending on national cultures and on activity sectors. However, one can identify a potential symmetry between the diversity of practices and the partitioning of scientific approaches. Design/methodology/approach – In order to synthesize the different approaches in KM, the authors studied the 62 papers published in the first three conferences. To have a first representation of the diversity, they analyzed the keywords that were used: among 173 keywords used by the authors, eight keywords represent 27 per cent of the total amount. Findings – Three main dimensions which emerged from the articles are analysed: the practical dimension, the epistemological point of view, and the intention to define a theory of action. Originality/value – KM is an emerging domain, especially in French culture. This paper can be seen as a first foundation of the domain, and also a manifesto to develop interdisciplinary research on this topic.