Call for PapersThe Mediation(s) Symposium will take place on January 22, 23, and 24, 2025, in Paris, and is organized by "Médiations - Sciences of Places, Sciences of Links (Sorbonne University)," a geography research center. The aim is to explore the concept of mediation as a means to coherently and innovatively unite a variety of research efforts currently spanning the diverse field of geography. Mediation emerges as a cornerstone of societal life. Invoked and called upon, mediation could help overcome even the most severe crises. It has become specialized and professionalized, extending its reach across all spheres of society, from international diplomacy to the management of private conflicts and the dissemination of knowledge. However, the term "mediation" opens up broader scientific horizons; it allows the relationships maintained between human communities as well as with their environments over time and space to be examined, in order to establish connections that enable collective coping with uncertainty. Here, we wish to examine mediation and mediation·s (hence the use of the midpoint) through the lens of the profoundly spatial dimension of this concept. This symposium aims to serve as a mediation between various geographical practices that would benefit from more interaction and collaborative development of both theoretical and empirical dimensions. It seeks to provide a forum for discussion of the renewed challenges posed by the question of mediations today.
Mediation in the realm of geography
In the realm of geography, at least two perspectives are opened up by the concept of "mediation." The history of the word can be traced back to the 13th and 14th centuries, revealing two distinct meanings that should not be confused: the act of dividing by two, and intercession/interpretation. The first meaning, which is also the most common and extensively developed in the study of societies, views mediation as the relationship of an individual to their environment, identifying and recognizing the elements of this relationship. The root "med" thus refers to environments and habitats, to human habitation in all its dimensions. In a broad sense, mediation can be considered as a fundamental process of reality, establishing a connection between realities that cannot be seen as a spontaneous phenomenon. Mediation implies a third "force;" it transcends what is mediated. It becomes "that which brings into being" rather than merely "that which is" at the heart of a complex system of relationships. Conversely, it is opposed to immediacy, or even the immediate. The immediate is strongly connoted as a temporal term and much less as a spatial term, unlike "media," which "sounds" spatial, or even geographical, especially when associated with the idea of massive information dissemination on a global scale. It has taken the form of a procedural technique (assuming positive and attentive listening to the parties and neutrality among them). It has even become a discipline, a common rule of conduct. It can also be elevated to an ethic. The second horizon of mediation encompasses the action is achieves, which is its culmination in conciliation and accommodation, or in other words, a conflict resolution process involving a trusted third party. This operation can be considered as a moment of culmination if it succeeds. If mediation is so important and valued, it is because, when successful, it can be seen as a peak moment in negotiation, conflict resolution, and the building of common ground. However, in a geographical context, the scope of mediation extends far beyond this. It implies a dynamic interaction with space, where human relationships, objects, the environment, and even ideas, are constantly negotiated and reconfigured. It shapes how individuals and communities perceive, interact with, and transform their environment. This aspect of mediation underscores a deep relationality with space, where every interaction leaves a mark and alters the landscape, both literally and metaphorically.
From a geography-specific perspective, mediation can be understood as a way of organizing the spatial dimension of societies, including nature. This involves questioning the processes and stakes related to spaces and spatialities, understanding interdependencies, and the production of places. The notion of actors is also central when addressing spatial arbitrations, the mechanisms leading to them, and evaluating relationships with places. On the one hand, this refers to a science of places, and on the other hand, a science of links.
The Context of Analysis: Challenges, Practices, and Perspectives
The Mediation(s) Symposium aims to organize discussions around seven non-exclusive context elements, to encourage the intersection of viewpoints, both from a conceptual and empirical standpoint, as well as discussion about the operational aspects of mediations.
Mediations and Globality In the field of geography, the notions of "mediations" and "globality" maintain historical connections. Geographers, through their ability to describe the Planet Earth, have played and continue to play an essential role in elucidating the dynamics of spaces and societies on a global scale. Beyond the vast universal geographies, multiple geographical works attempt to decode the complexities of the current world. The concept of globality refers specifically to the understanding and experience of globalness. In an increasingly interconnected world, globality highlights the complex interdependencies and transnational networks shaping geographical realities. It includes how global processes—whether economic, cultural, political, or ecological—affect and are affected by local and regional contexts. Globality invites reflection on how global and local scales interpenetrate, challenging administrative boundaries and promoting a more nuanced understanding of spaces and places. When examined together, mediations and globality offer a rich framework for analyzing spatial interactions in a globalized world. Mediation in this context is not limited to resolving conflicts but becomes a tool for navigating and understanding the complexities of the global world—a world where spaces are constantly redefined by networks and flows of people, information, capital, etc. Similarly, globality, by considering various scales of interaction, enriches our understanding of mediation processes by revealing how global dynamics are shaped and influenced by local and regional specificities. Here, new relationships based on the feeling of accessibility, and the immediacy of particularly distant places staged as available to everyone with the help of technological, logistical, and informational means can be discussed. Conversely, phenomena of blurring, rendering invisible, or diluting the material reality of globalized phenomena can be examined. Likewise, in the face of these generalized interactions and trans-scalar mediations, it is possible to question the return of logics of closure and exclusion to the circulation of human beings but also of information, leading to the development of unknown or even inaccessible zones for an increasing number of individuals.
Mediations and the Anthropocene Mediation encompasses the multitude of ways in which humans interact with, interpret, and modify their environment. Thus, mediations include how cultures, technologies, and economic systems influence and transform biophysical spaces over various temporalities. Through this lens, it becomes a means to observe how human actions shape and are shaped by the environment, in a constant and dynamic exchange. At the heart of this inquiry, the Anthropocene event (a notion contested by geologists) can be defined as the moment of realization of the critical role of human activities in accelerating environmental transformations —climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and ecosystem transformations. This context opens two challenges. The first is a loss of the major climatic principles upon which the relationships between societies and their environments were built, leading to a collapse of the logic of guarantees and insurance based on now-outdated probabilities. Hazard now takes on an increasingly catastrophic dimension, fueling narratives of collapse in a context of uncertainty. The second challenge is the need to mediate between the complex rhythms of beings interacting in the same atmosphere, to refine this mediation to fine scales, to question temporalities, the links between all forces present, and to outline common horizons, whether at major global summits or during multiple localized disasters. Environmental issues are increasingly structurally invited into the political debate, interfering with other political and economic agendas, often leading to conflicts of legitimacy and responsibility. The multiplicity of combinations realized, varying the scales of problems, their very "nature," processes of legitimization, categories of actors, styles of representation, or even other dimensions, demand that geographers be able to demonstrate a high degree of expertise to integrate analyses of increasing complexity, necessarily drawing on extraordinarily diverse specialties. Such a context is imposed on many analyses and poses the challenge of mediation between cognitive and operational worlds, sometimes diametrically opposed to each other. Here, it is possible to discuss: new relationships maintained by communities in the face of ecological challenges such as climatic hazards (heatwaves, torrential rains); biodiversity collapse, as well as the modalities of becoming aware of the magnitude of difficulties; the actions of knowledge transmission in complex contexts with contested facts; and also the new modalities of collective organization to overcome current and future challenges.
Mediations and Artificial Intelligence, Algorithmics and Cybernetics The emergence of a new generation of particularly efficient—and invasive—tools is redefining the processes of data acquisition and processing. In the space of a few decades, humans have become new "cyborgs," delegating numerous intellectual tasks to machines, primarily those of orientation and circulation. Nowadays, the performance of algorithms and the computational power of machines allow for probable interpretations and especially help guide individuals in an increasing number of tasks. The field of geography is among those at the heart of this technical revolution. Geographic Information Systems have revolutionized and continue to revolutionize daily life. The professions of geographers and the discipline itself are being deeply transformed. Acknowledging these mediators—and their limits—helps geographers understand how their own perspectives and the tools they use shape their interpretations of geographical space. AI can act as a hyper-efficient mediator, capable of processing volumes of data inaccessible to humans, recognizing complex patterns, and making decisions or recommendations in real-time. In a world where up-to-date information plays a central and massive role in the daily lives of billions of individuals, algorithmic processes are changing the game in an increasing number of fields. Developed particularly by home food delivery or urban transport platforms, it has already revolutionized the daily lives of many urban residents. AI is now spreading very quickly in fields such as expertise, research, and innovation. The impact of AI on mediation is especially evident in areas such as communication, education, urban design, and the management of complex systems. Cities are thus at the heart of these new processes, being themselves labelled as “smart.” However, it is necessary to recall that these technical devices carry the biases of their creators, as well as the biases of the data on which they are trained. They renew power relationships capable of increasing injustice and exclusion. In this context, divergent reactions appear. Many scientists are reflecting on their tools to avoid the hegemony of the mechanical approaches of new technologies, whose effects are particularly strong on what makes up our humanity (for example, the weakening of our sense of orientation), but also an approach increasingly mediated by simplified interfaces that reduce our sensory fields and to the processes constituting our comprehensive relationships with reality. Indeed, mapping, for example, is not a simple representation of reality but a construction that involves choices about what is included or excluded, on how information is hierarchized and presented. Consequently, there is a significant return of the sensitive as the basis of the intelligible and a renewed alliance with artists to offer divergent analytical horizons. Here, the development of these mediation tools and their effects on the spatial daily lives of individuals as well as in scientific research can be discussed. It will be possible to highlight the processes of adherence and the perspectives of innovation offered as well as the reactions of avoidance or opposition to their growing influence. It will be possible to discuss both scientific methods and the results obtained.
Mediations, Recognition and Pluralities of Modes of Existence Scientific mediation has accompanied major transformations in the name of the modernization paradigm, embodied by the model of development. Mechanisms of mediation have served engineering tools; in order to build consent around the univocal principle of the general interest, calculated based on economic and financial criteria. These projects, decided by a minority of experts with particularly uniform profiles, have had harmful effects that have been deliberately minimized or even ignored. Oppositions or those left behind have been discredited or rendered inaudible. The 20th century was thus marked by particularly strong tensions within the scientific world itself, between performative approaches to the standardization necessary for the accelerated deployment of networks and critical approaches defending the plurality of alternative ways of doing things. Although based on the same observation of the exclusion of an increasing number of people left behind, the latter have often been disregarded. They have often been reduced to a plea for situations that are considered to be in a minority, albeit challenging situations that are statistically in a majority. In this context, so-called human geography has expanded, paying increasing attention to the diversity of experiences according to gender, origin, age, and capacity (physical, intellectual, monetary), in order to redefine horizons of justice. These research efforts have enabled significant work to be done in identifying inequalities and recognizing socio-spatial marginalizations. Today, they are joined by research on a new geography that is more than human, aiming to bring forth a polyphony of terrestrial realities through the analysis of the plurality of beings, human and non-human, as well as the plurality of modes of existence. The approach through the human body illustrates the multiplicity of horizons that are opening up to geographers. The body is the result of continuously co-produced mediations. On the one hand, it is both the object and subject of a "human ecology," implying a systemic relationship with its living environment and the micro-organisms that inhabit it. On the other hand, as a "total social fact" in the words of Marcel Mauss it is marked by norms, social codes, cultures, and practices, that give it a dimension of identity. These approaches aggregate to open up the complexity of attachments that underpin the environmental condition. They question not only relations of domination but also those of solidarity and coexistence between humans and non-humans. They also raise the debate about the need to rethink modes of attention and care. Historical and geographical works have already brought geological elements, atmospheres, plants, animals and people into a conversation around a stream or a mountain. Now, many contemporary works are renewing these reflections, in particular by using new approaches to make it possible to perceive and understand the sensitive relationships that shape the world. They lay the groundwork for new cartographies and new narratives, offering a counterpoint to dominant visions. Here, we expect discussion of various aspects of the interaction between the human body and the micro-organisms that inhabit it, embodiment, intelligence, commensality, relations with other living species, identity, cultural and social belonging questions, the role of the body in human autonomy and identity, with notable implications in the perception of space.
Mediations, Epistemology and Theory Standing in the middle to act as an intermediary between two realities, and deriving a form of autonomy from it, is an idea with a broad and very powerful scope, especially when considering its geographical dimension (whether it concerns spaces or spatialities). Systemic reading is central here as a set of interacting elements. This implies that the elements are not more important than the relationships between them, leading to a focus on the relational dimension of reality. This radical formulation actually expresses quite well the epistemological foundation of works that define their object through the notion of relation: for example, the definition of cities' areas of attraction (including in statistical, official, and ultimately normative terms), which uses the relationships between municipalities to delineate these. However, upon closer examination, realizations of this epistemological basis can be found in much less formal approaches, for example, when the focus of research is on a fundamental relationship, such as that between humans and non-humans. Thus, mediations as an epistemological context of geography deserve to be better explored and recognized, particularly when questioning the production of geographical knowledge. Here, the theoretical and epistemological fields associated with mediations can be discussed. Conceptual productions and clashes are particularly welcome. Presentations may be accompanied by graphical productions and will benefit from being supported by empirical evidence on all scales.
Mediations, Instruments and Democratic Practices Today, scientific production is called upon to establish itself in the new ethical context of open science which explains its hypotheses and research protocols, and in participatory science which integrates stakeholders at all stages of research. This dynamic is particularly relevant and implicates geographers, who have long maintained privileged relationships with many stakeholders, including administrations, private companies, and associative groups, as well as increasingly local communities due to the diversity of their practices and their appetite for research connected with action. Geography is thus well equipped to respond appropriately to the social demand for mediation in all its diversity. It acts as a bridge between theory and reality, between planning and its implementation, and between the various actors involved in spatial organization and territorial management. From this perspective, it is important to highlight the directive given to scientists to mediate their research, so that it can be understood a priori —and therefore accepted and funded—by these multiple parties. This new modality appears as the establishment of systems for preliminary evaluation before the peer review which is typically carried out a posteriori. This dynamic reinforces the close ties between geography and what it calls the "field," thus strengthening geographers' engagement in research actions in contact with societies, and in mediation situations. It also generates pressure on the production of scientific knowledge, which requires a degree of "withdrawal" —delays, distancing, and perspective to open possibilities for explanation (as opposed to implication). The "democratic event” that has reached research thus raises the question of possible arbitrations between the authority conferred by known facts —since the argument of authority underlies the recourse to expertise— and the practice of science in dialogue with society. Therefore, very diverse fields can be addressed here. It appears all the more important to discuss all the new steps induced by this dynamic, their temporalities, and their impacts on research.
Mediations, Spatial Intelligence and Geographic Intelligence Three components are particularly embraced here:
Geographers also fit into a complex continuum ranging from the production of scientific knowledge to the production of educational knowledge and professional knowledge. This dynamic now has the particularity of being both at the foundation of a common culture capable of understanding major planetary dynamics but also of being very locally embodied in the possible discussion of objects as singular as planning and urban development plans, whose codes (such as legendary maps) and tools (Geoportal) are presented to children from a young age. It thus seems necessary to question the circulation of these forms of knowledge, their supports, their pedagogies, and their methods between the academic, professional, didactic, and also civic spheres. From a more general perspective, the geographical mediations of geography, with geography and ultimately in geography, operate through the entire web of links that unite the world of ideas (especially research) and the world of action, via technology and what can be called "intelligences." It is these aspects, in particular, that can be addressed here. |
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