Discreet crips in a discrete world: spatialities and temporalities of disability

This article explores the relationships that disabled people have with the space surrounding them. Extending Jacques Lévy’s work on various non-Euclidean spatialities, we study the discontinuous and discrete nature of space as inhabited by disabled people, with a focus on people with physical impairments. We start at a local scale, with perceptions of one’s body, of one’s environment, and the algorithmic nature of conscious movement. Lack of autonomy, often a consequence of society’s (lack of) accessibility, creates an experience [...]

Spatial Justice

Une société juste. La réunion des termes justice et espace ne va pas de soi. En effet, les théories de la justice a-spatiales étaient considérées jusqu’à présent comme les seules auxquelles on avait recours pour répondre à la question : qu’est-ce qu’une société juste ? Savoir ce qu’est un espace juste ne faisait pour ainsi dire pas [...]

Déplacer les disciplines : le nouveau rôle des aires

Our societies appear increasingly polarized between the camp of the advocates of "de-globalization" and that of the relentless globalists. Such polarization obscures, by caricaturing it, the complexity of the challenge of human plurality and generates a dilemma, illusory to a certain extent, between the quest for generality and the consideration of particularities. In the humanities and social sciences, this dilemma takes the shape, among others, of a recurring debate about the relation between “the disciplines” and area studies. Overcoming [...]

Le maker, construction d’une figure politique de l’innovation en Chine urbaine.

The present article relates how the figure of the « maker» has become an important figure in China’s recent industrial and urban policies. As Chinese cities are transitioning from a labor-intensive industry (Made in China) to an innovation-centered service economy (Created in China), the country is facing an urgent need for political leadership renewal. The « maker movement » has grown internationally to create new models for businesses and organisations using digital fabrication technologies, with the promise of bringing [...]

Kairos, Kronos : les sciences sociales au(x) temps du développement personnel.

The actors, tools, discourses, practices related to the field of self-development have thrived since the early twenties in the United States and in Europe, as a response to societies’ will to live better lives. Time, especially as far as the many possible temporalities are concerned, is one of the main themes of self-development. Thus, Kairos and Kronos materialize the idea that contemporary Western societies live in relation to two temporal regimes – one being chronological, and the other kairetical. [...]

Les rythmes de la production urbaine au prisme de l’accélération sociale.

The idea of an advanced social acceleration dominates in contemporary SHS writings. However, the links between this acceleration and the modalities of urban space production are still poorly explored. This article is based on the assumption that the acceleration of societies is linked to several aspects of urban production. Two elements are developed in this text. On the one hand, the evolution of social rhythms leads the actors of the urban fabric to consider the question of urban rhythms. [...]

La justice spatiale prend place.

The book Théorie de la justice spatiale (2018) was published shortly before the outbreak of the political action of the Yellow Vests. The importance of the connections between space and justice in the public debate that followed shows that the spatial dimension of social life is now perceived in France as a component which cannot be reduced to others, more classic, like the economic and political dimensions. The concepts useful to think such a dimension, that the book advances, [...]

Ce dont on peut parler, il faut le dire.

Les mutations de l’espace politique et ses enjeux.

The major shifts that affect every electoral maps of the West for some decades are crystal-clear and convergent. They make possible simple, formalized propositions. However, some works show a reluctance to embed these changes in these approaches, as our theories of space/politics interactions require significant reshuffles. These novel phenomena generate a disruption that a part of the academic world finds hard to assume. This justifies an overall epistemological reflection on how scientists can encompass novelty in their research practices. [...]

Sous le calque, la carte.

The zenith view offered by the maps may have led to the oblivion of their sources : horizontal experiences of space through the practical and theoretical mastery of distance. This oblivion and the figurative object, received as a higher reality in the form of the trace, were instruments of power. But the profusion of sources that are now imposed by alternative channels calls into question the scientific exercise of cartography, forcing us to return to the horizontal dimension of [...]

Infinity Room 2

Du 13 septembre 2019 au 29 mars 2020

Infinity Room 2 Pavillon B Archives, assemblages et amusements À l’occasion du 50e anniversaire de l’École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, ArtLab célèbre le campus et son histoire en proposant deux expositions : les projets Infinity Room, qui honorent l’esprit scientifique et sa pensée sans limite.   S’appuyant sur des archives, des documents et des assemblages, Infinity Room 2 révèle une [...]