Towards interdisciplinary rural research – theorizing nature-society relations

Abstract

Les articles de Karl Bruckmeier et de Hilary Tovey ont tous deux pour origine le XXIII e congrès de l'European Society for Rural Sociology intitulé "Reinventing the rural: between the social and the natural" qui s'est tenu en 2009 à Vaasa en Finlande. Les auteurs y adoptent un même objectif : discuter de la capacité de la sociologie rurale à construire une position théorique robuste « entre le social et le naturel » et, par là même, à se positionner par rapport à l'interdisciplinarité. Mais, alors même qu'ils s'appuient sur un état de l'art symétrique montrant l'ampleur de leurs références scientifiques, bien qu'anglophones pour l'essentiel, les auteurs proposent aux lecteurs un dialogue en confrontant leurs points de vue qui s'opposent. K Bruckmeier appelle à une nouvelle approche critique de la ruralité ouverte aux changements des rapports sociétés/natures et à l'interdisciplinarité. H. Tovey répond en lui opposant une analyse partant de la sociologie rurale pour évaluer sa capacité à inventer les approches épistémologiques et méthodologiques répondant aux nouveaux problèmes posés. Dans le droit fil du dossier ouvert dans NSS sur l'interdisciplinarité (NSS, 12, 1 [2004] et suivants), ces deux articles montrent que le débat sur les questions interdisciplinaires touche bien tous les champs disciplinaires. La RédactionKeywords: rural sociology; interdisciplinarity; interaction of society and nature; social ecology; global change Abstract -This article deals with the significance of interdisciplinary rural and environmental social research for the theorization of society and society-nature relations. For this purpose fields of knowledge adjacent to rural sociology are reviewed: environmental sociology, human and social ecology, ecological economics, social-ecological systems analysis, research on common pool resources and environmental conflicts. In discussing themes, concepts and reflections about the relations between society and nature, it is shown how theoretical codification and reflection on knowledge as well as knowledge application for natural resource management can develop from interdisciplinary research. Rural sociology can gain from the interdisciplinary knowledge exchange without changing its specialization as sociological subdiscipline. Mots-clés :sociologie rurale ; interdisciplinarité ; interactions société-nature ; écologie sociale ; changement global Résumé -Pour une recherche rurale interdisciplinaire : théorisation des relations naturesociété. Cet article se propose d'évaluer les apports de la recherche rurale et environnementale en sciences sociales à une théorie des relations entre nature et société. Plusieurs champs de recherche proches de la sociologie rurale sont discutés : la sociologie de l'environnement, l'écologie humaine et sociale, l'économie écologique, l'analyse des systèmes socioécologiques, la recherche sur les "common pool resources" et sur les conflits d'utilisation des ressources naturelles. La discussion des thèmes, concepts et réflexions sur les relations entre nature et so...

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