Dominateur, protecteur ou néguentropique ? Lecture transnationale de l’humour.

Humour is at the same time universal and highly cultural. As such, it represents a highly valuable lense to study cultures. Literature on the topic has shown that in interindividual groups or community settings, two main functions can be identified : the first one is represented by the offensive/protective function, the second by the cohesion/differentiation function. We refer to the first one as the vertical component and to the second as the horizontal component. This study has two main [...]

Les musées urbains de la Shoah comme objets d’enjeux géopolitiques et espace-temps de l’entre-deux.

This paper focuses on the cases of several museums and memorials located within major cities (Berlin, Jerusalem, Montreal, Washington, Budapest and Paris). Building upon these examples, it explores the connections between the construction of the cities’ museums and their geopolitical stakes. It also focuses on how time is spatially accounted for within them. [...]

Les jardins partagés, producteurs vivriers urbains ?

Éléments de réponse à travers une étude à Paris.

The reports of a permanent rise of the urban population, a possible scarcity of oil in the future, a means of energy mainly used in the transportations of goods and an essential element of intensive farming imply to consider new possibilities regarding production and food transportation in cities. Urban production is envisaged here as an alternative. The study of a “jardin partagé” (the equivalent of a community garden) in Paris, correlated with other experiences of urban gardens in the [...]

La gouvernance métropolitaine à l’épreuve de la mobilité contrainte des « Roms migrants » en région parisienne.

Cet article, qui combine le regard ethnographique avec l’analyse des politiques publiques et la géographie urbaine, cherche à documenter les politiques en direction des migrants roms en situation précaire en Île-de-France. Jusqu’à présent, la « question rom » n’a pas vraiment fait l’objet de politiques à l’échelle de la région métropolitaine. En revanche, elle a suscité des réactions de l’État et des pouvoirs locaux dont l’attitude a oscillé entre accueil et rejet. Attentifs aux pratiques et aux stratégies résidentielles [...]

Thinking Dimensionally in Social Sciences.

An unconventional notion of social space for research on social topics.

This article carries the constructivist idea to its logical conclusion. If space is always perceived in three dimensions and does not have a substance, why not consider social topics in the the same way and see whether this produces informative and new insights ? The notion of Euclidean space as a dimensional system of ordering is an elementary concept in social sciences. This article gives two examples of how this concept could be employed in a non-positivistic and non-essentialist [...]

La géohistoire de l’espace viticole français sur deux siècles (1808-2010) : plusieurs cycles viticoles décryptés.

Geohistory of the French wine area (1808-2010) highlights, for the whole of the French territory, two cycles of growth and decline of vineyards. We can observe a period of wine transition (“transition vitivinicole”) during the second cycle, which is in fact divided into two phases : the first one represents the decline of wine surfaces, especially those producing wines of regular consumption. The second phase consists in the mix of two trends : the confirmed decrease of areas producing [...]

Mobilités numériques. De l’usage à l’expérience utilisateur (UX) du monde.

Mobility issues do not only involve the act of moving nowadays. The concept itself evolves continuously thanks to technological and social innovations. The main stakes do not focus anymore on improving speed, but on enriching the experience of travelling, even in the case of short trips. One of the main factors that fosters this evolution is the progressive adoption of information and communication technologies that help to reshape the issues of contemporary cities. For example, the quality of travel [...]

Littérature et identité postcoloniales kanak : lire, écrire et agir avec Fanon (1969-1973).

In New Caledonia, the abrogation of the “Décret d’Indigénat” in 1946 marked the beginning of the politicization of the Kanak community. Some Kanak leaders, albeit briefly, joined the Communist Party in 1947. However, the effects of this politicization only started to become visible once the first generation of Kanak students came to France in order to complete their studies at French universities. The main objective of this article is to analyze how Frantz Fanon’s thoughts influenced early Kanak emancipatory [...]

Les musiques urbaines, ou la subversion des codes esthétiques occidentaux.

The purpose of the present contribution is to provide a way of thinking the wide category of urban musics (including hip-hop, slam, electro and improvised music). Several ethnographic observations have lead the author to the idea that the musical practices and inherent speeches are used by the artists to subvert western aesthetic codes by deconstructing several structural oppositions (such as scholar/popular, imitation/creation, singing/talking...). Moreover, the groups that are socially dominated use these musical technics as a tool for affirming [...]

Sport et nature : une gestion hybride de l’espace ?

Le cas du col du Coq et de la Dent de Crolles dans le massif de Chartreuse (France).

The organization of outdoor sports areas is an important issue because athletes are not the only ones to invest nature. This article discusses the management of outdoor sports activities in a part of the Chartreuse Regional Nature Park (France). The latter has a particularly complex network with different managers, different political scales and varied sports and traditional activities. An analysis of the intentional management and effective management of the site (Mermet 1994) shows that the prerogatives of the managers [...]