Showing papers by "Bernard Debarbieux published in 2014"

Enracinement – Ancrage – Amarrage : raviver les métaphores

Abstract: La litterature academique de langue francaise fait un usage tres abondant des notions d’ancrage et d’enracinement quand elle traite de l’habiter et des pratiques residentielles. Si l’origine metaphorique de ces notions est parfois rappelee, sinon exploitee, par les auteurs qui y ont recours, elle est souvent passee sous silence. Cet article propose de raviver la dimension metaphorique de ces notions, en les completant de deux autres – mouillage et amarrage – dans une double intention : d’une part, en montrant qu’en les prenant au serieux, il est possible de leur faire designer differents types de rapport aux lieux qui exploitent directement les images sous-jacentes ; d’autre part, en rappelant que ces images participent d’une poetique du savoir qui distille des effets de verite dont les motivations sont a rechercher dans les options epistemologiques majeures adoptees.

Tourism in Mountain Regions: Hopes, Fears and Realities

Abstract: The economic potential tourism holds, for many – although not all - mountain communities, is quite clear: in most mountainous regions of the world, people have limited possibilities for generating income. Agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry form the backbone of local economies, but these contend with shallow soils, harsh weather conditions, and low market competitiveness. Therefore, diversification of livelihoods is often not a choice, but a necessity for mountain households.

Données géographiques et construction institutionnelle d'une région transnationale. Le SOIA comme objet-frontière ?

Abstract: Le role des bases de donnees geographiques dans le processus de construction regionale est reste a ce jour tres marginal au sein des etudes regionales. Cet article etudie dans quelle mesure de telles bases de donnees constituent un operateur, une modalite, de l'institutionnalisation d'une region transnationale emergente. Il mobilise pour cela les concepts d'objet-intermediaire et d'objet-frontiere, adoptes avec succes en anthropologie des sciences et des techniques. L'article se propose de le faire a l'echelle du perimetre de la Convention alpine avec une attention particuliere portee sur le Systeme d'observation et d'information des Alpes (SOIA). Il montre que les difficultes apparaissant dans la creation du SOIA sont revelatrices de celles rencontrees dans la construction institutionnelle de la Convention alpine. Cet article repose sur un corpus d'une dizaine d'entretiens etendus ainsi que de nombreux rapports internes aux institutions concernees.

Rootedness – Anchoring – Mooring: Reviving Metaphors

Abstract: La litterature academique de langue francaise fait un usage tres abondant des notions d’ancrage et d’enracinement quand elle traite de l’habiter et des pratiques residentielles. Si l’origine metaphorique de ces notions est parfois rappelee, sinon exploitee, par les auteurs qui y ont recours, elle est souvent passee sous silence. Cet article propose de raviver la dimension metaphorique de ces notions, en les completant de deux autres – mouillage et amarrage – dans une double intention : d’une part, en montrant qu’en les prenant au serieux, il est possible de leur faire designer differents types de rapport aux lieux qui exploitent directement les images sous-jacentes ; d’autre part, en rappelant que ces images participent d’une poetique du savoir qui distille des effets de verite dont les motivations sont a rechercher dans les options epistemologiques majeures adoptees.

Les spatialités dans l’œuvre d’Hannah Arendt

Abstract: Cet article etudie les concepts spatiaux a l’œuvre dans les ecrits d’Hannah Arendt et la problematisation spatiale des questions politiques et anthropologiques auxquelles elle a consacre plusieurs ouvrages majeurs. Il conclut avec l’idee que la diversite des propositions spatiales chez Arendt peut etre ramenee a trois spatialites, trois conceptions de l‘espace : la spatialite des places, la spatialite des positions et la spatialite de l’action. Ces trois spatialites ne referent pas a des modes d’existence de l’espace independants les uns des autres ; leur articulation dans son analyse de la condition humaine et des « mondes communs » est subordonnee a deux concepts qui occupent une place plus centrale encore dans l’œuvre d’Arendt : l’identite et la pluralite.

Die Schweizerischen Berggebiete in der Politik

Abstract: This book’s main message is the following: Between 1920 and 1980, Swiss public policies on mountain areas were based on an exceptionally strong consensus, in terms of the whole country showing solidarity with the mountain population. This consensus began to crumble during the 1980s and is fundamentally questioned today. The book is structured to convey thismessage. Following an introduction to the role of mountains in Swiss politics, it first describes the traditional situation of consensus, which peaked in the period from1935 to 1945 (Chapters 2 and 3, per page numbers in German version). Next, the authors characterize the new situation (Chapter 4) and take stock of commonalities and controversies (Chapter 5). They close by addressing the international level (Chapter 6). The authors mention 2 main reasons for the loss of consensus on mountain policies. On the one hand, they ascribe it to “the triumph of neoliberal ideologies” and Switzerland’s increasing adoption of the European Union’s goals of “competition, a knowledge-based economy, and innovation” (p46).Ontheotherhand, it also results fromaconvergenceof living and economic conditions in Switzerland’s mountain regions and on the Swiss Plateau (p 88). Its consequences— project thinking, multifunctionality, and reduced importance of mountainspecific topics (p 67)—characterize policy-making on mountain regions as well as other areas of policy-making. The disintegration of consensus led to the emergence of entirely new perspectives on mountain regions, which often give rise to conflicts—but less in politics than within the population and between different stakeholder groups (p 78). This includes a series of referendums and popular initiatives that are well known in Switzerland (pp 81 ff), as well as new key concepts, such as “alpine fallow lands” (p 77), “wilderness” (p 74), the “Energy Strategy 2050” (p 64), and the “Spatial Concept for Switzerland” (p 61). A “functionalist perspective” that links state support for the development of mountain regions with questions of their performance in the “national interest” (p 68) is new as well and, according to the authors, “not necessarily of benefit to mountain regions” (p 68). By addressing these issues, the authors—2 geographers from Geneva who are renowned for their work on the Alps and on mountain policies— raise important questions that need to be clarified above all at the public level today. They provide an excellent basis for this task and take care not to voice their own positions too strongly. The fact that the book is considered important in the political context becomes clear already in the forewords by the Director of the Swiss Centre for Mountain Regions (SAB) and the Executive Director of the Swiss Interacademic Commission for Alpine Studies (ICAS), who encouraged and supported translation of this book from French into German. The book attempts to explain the background of as many political and policy examples as possible. Nonetheless, their wide range of topics probably makes it difficult for readers who are not experts on the topic or not very familiar with Swiss political structures to follow the book’s densely packed argumentation. This is somewhat regrettable, because dissent among experts is usually minor, whereas Swiss society at large—where there is marked dissent about the issues discussed in this book—is not among the book’s target audience. Likewise, international readers who are not familiar with Switzerland will find it difficult to follow the line of argumentation, as the book addresses many issues specific to the country and explains these specificities only briefly. Finally, onemore thing standsout in this book. The authors rightly emphasize straight at the beginning that the greatpolitical relevanceofmountains is specific to Switzerland (p 15). This is certainly a reason to concentrate on Switzerland when discussing national-level mountain policies. But when it comes to the last 20 years, it would have made sense to put Swiss debates into a broader context, such as European mountain policies or mountain policies in the European Alps. Comparisonwouldhavehelped to show whether there are specifically Swiss discussions and solutions andwhat they look like, orwhether theydonotexistor even do not make sense. Chapter 6, which looks beyond Switzerland, does not attempt such a comparison but rather describes international developments from a Swiss perspective. In a nutshell: This is a small, but very important book, which—concerning recent developments—perhaps remains focused a little too narrowly just on Switzerland.