Making Peace with “Nature”. History of symbolic representations and practices since Antiquity 

Conference organized by the HisTeMé laboratory – UR 7455, November 8-10, 2023, at the University of Caen Normandy, IMEC and the Caen Memorial. Free registration. 

Scientific coordinators : Caroline Blonce, Jan Synowiecki and Anna Trespeuch-Berthelot (Université de Caen Normandie, HisTeMé, UR 7455) 

The symposium explores historical sequences of pacification with “nature”, following three types of conflict: armed conflicts between humans, what human societies perceive as attacks on them by “nature” (floods, earthquakes, droughts, late frosts, etc.) and the wars that human societies wage against “nature” (pollution, deforestation, erosion, species extinction, climate upheaval, etc.). During these episodes of destabilization of homeostasis – perceived and/or real – human representations of interdependence within the living world are laid bare, which justifies the scientific interest of studying them in a transperiodic dynamic. Speakers will examine the discourses, rituals and collective representations that identify imbalances within the living world, the modes of immediate remediation and, finally, the projects and utopias for establishing lasting peace within the living world. 

Possibility of following the symposium remotely (see information on the symposium website). 

Conference organized in partnership with the Association pour l’histoire de la protection de la nature et de l’environnement (AHPNE), Caen la Mer, Collège des Bernardins, Institut Mémoires de l’Edition contemporaine (IMEC), Institut pour la Paix, Maison de la Recherche en Sciences humaines de Caen, Mémorial de Caen and TEMOS (UMR 9016).