Call for submissionsThe production of mineral raw materials has increased at an exponential rate, from +3% to 6% depending on the metal, since the beginning of the 20th century, with demand continuing until 2050 (Christmann, 2018), driven by worldwide growth, the increase in urban populations, the rapid expansion of the middle class and the needs arising from the energy transition. Primary production, with mining, and the discovery of new deposits are a necessity in the current configuration of (over)consumption and low recycling rates. Mining activities, with the extraction and processing of ores, have a major impact on the environment: the levelling of topsoil in open-cast mines, changes in land use, excavations on slopes and deposits of mine tailings that significantly transform landscapes and whose leaching of chemical elements can cause acid drainage and contamination of ecosystems (soil, water, living organisms) downstream of mining sites. Mining also causes dust emissions and increased noise (Ripley et al., 1996; Younger et al., 2002). Extractive activities also have a significant impact on social and cultural structures: they increase economic inequalities, lead to conflicts over land and resource use, and profoundly alter community identity, etc. (Horowitz et al., 2018; Babidge, 2019). At the same time, the injunctions to preserve and promote territories as heritage are becoming increasingly pronounced (Gravari Barbas et al., 2016). In 2020, according to figures from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 15% of the Earth’s surface was protected, 5% below the announced target. This trend is set to continue, with a target of 25% set for 2030. Meanwhile, the number of sites on the World Heritage List continues to grow (1,199 sites by 2023), with governments increasingly committed to the conservation and promotion of natural and cultural heritage. For example, in January 2021, France adopted the ‘national strategy for protected areas 2023’, which aims to protect 30% of the country’s territory and maritime waters by 2030, including 10% under enhanced protection. In 2021, only 1.8% of these areas were under strong protection. Between these two polarities, extraction versus protection, what are the challenges facing mountain areas? This is precisely the aim of this international conference: to examine the role of mountain regions, both as suppliers of raw materials and as protected areas, in both North and South, and the ongoing tensions between protection (of the environment and culture) and exploitation. The aim of this call for applications is to encourage contributions from a range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, including geography, history, sociology, communication sciences, political science, anthropology and law. The aim is to cross-disciplinary approaches to mountain areas faced with the implementation of extractive processes (past, present and future) in tension with processes to protect or heritage other resources, by bringing different territorial values into play (Rossi et al., 2021). In this way, the aim is to examine the dynamics of local development, territoriality, imagination and attachment to mountain areas in both the North and South. The analysis of conflicts and controversies is also at the centre of attention, showing a disagreement on the values given to the various territorial elements. In other words, the aim is to help decompartmentalize knowledge with a view to offering new ways of understanding common objects and cross-cutting issues around and based on mountains (Attali et al., 2014). This will involve
Papers are expected to provide theoretical and/or empirical responses to these objectives, and may fall within, but not be limited to, one of the following three areas: 1. Protection and heritage making of mountain soils and subsurface; Can the promotion of tourism or the identification of cultural and/or environmental heritage avoid the need for extractive operations? Does the development of extractive activities necessarily exclude tourism? Do areas without a tourism or heritage dimension approve of the arrival of extractive activities? Can extractive activities and heritage be mutually legitimate (compensation, traditional activities)? 2. Imaginations and territorial attachments to mountain soils and subsurface; What are the representations of the subsurface in mountain environments? How do local people feel about the land? What imaginations are jeopardized by the development of extractive activities? What imaginary images emerge from extractive activities and become part of the local identity? What narratives structure the development of extractive activities? 3. Conflicts and controversies surrounding protection and extraction; What conflicts of use arise from the superimposition of surface activities and the exploitation of the subsurface? What power relationships are established between the various players? What values or cross-cutting issues are at the centre of controversy or likely to trigger conflict? What demands are made? Are certain types of extraction more likely to generate consensus? What protection/legacy/compensation practices aim to reduce controversy? Anonymized proposals should include a title, a maximum of 5 key words, a description of the preferred focus of the paper, and then the proposal itself (around 4,000 characters), indicating the subject of the study, the theoretical framework, the issues, the empirical elements and the main bibliographical references used. Proposals that go beyond the Alpine context are welcome. They should be submitted in French or English, exclusively at http://soussol.sciencesconf.org/, before 15 May 2024. Papers will last 20 minutes, followed by a discussion period. Timetable: - 15 February 2024: opening of abstract submission - 15 May 15 June 2024: closing date for submission of abstracts - 21 June 5 July 2024 : notification of acceptance of abstracts - 15 July 25 July 2024: deadline for early registration |
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