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Boutique des Sciences > Projects > 2013-2014


Recording the recollections and first-hand accounts of historic environmental activists

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The Maison Rhodanienne de l’Environnement ("Rhone Environmental Centre") is an umbrella association gathering together numerous local environmental protection organizations. Created in 1994, the association is today confronted with the ageing of its original founding generation of activists. However, the manner in which these activists have experienced their commitment, and their own assessment of their environmental involvement, remain largely ignored.

Fearing that this ignorance of the founding members' experiences could potentially disrupt the association’s actions for protecting the natural environment, it expressed its desire to record the recollections and first-hand accounts of its original activists. A sociology intern immersed herself in the Maison Rhodanienne de l’Environnement, interviewing individuals with diverse backgrounds, while questioning the aims of this type of activity. How can individual recollections enrich our understanding of local environmental protection movements? How might the creation of a collectively shared memory stimulate citizens’ commitment? How did the interviewees position themselves vis-à-vis current forms of environmental activism? This study sought to assemble the memories of the interviewed individuals so as to discover the manner in which they experienced their struggles to protect the environment, to uncover the meaning they lend their commitment, and to compare their recollections to the current context of environmental activism. But over and beyond the above analytical considerations, this memory-recording project also pursues a political agenda: by moving beyond the complexity of the environmental activism offer, the project seeks to encourage citizens to become sustainably committed to environmental considerations by placing their current actions within the context of a shared history.


CSO

Maison Rhodanienne de l'Environnement (MRE)
Représentant : M. Jean-Pierre ESPASA, responsable Pôle Documentaire MRE

student

Mme Tsilia POUSSIN – Master 2 professionnel en sociologie appliquée au développement local
Université Lumière Lyon 2

researcher

Academic tutor :
M. Florian CHARVOLIN - Centre Max Weber – Université Jean Monnet

Scientific supervisor :
Mme Isabelle ARPIN – IRSTEA Grenoble