Publication of the latest issue of Mermoz: Territories: abandon or rebound?

Publication of the latest issue of Mermoz

Territories: abandonment or rebound?

In the run-up to the municipal elections, the review Mermoz, published by the Circle of Economists, dedicates his 9th number to a question at the heart of the public debate: What happens to our territories?
Entitled “Territories: abandon or rebound? ”, this new issue takes the pulse of a plural France, made up of medium-sized cities in renewal, changing countryside, fragile suburbs and municipalities in search of meaning and resources.

More than administrative spaces, territories are here treated as living spaces, where the major economic, social and ecological transitions take place. Mermoz shows what the indicators often struggle to grasp: the daily lives of residents, the fractures experienced, but also local resources and the levers of action to reinvent themselves.

The issue opens with a reflection by Philippe Descola, professor emeritus at the Collège de France, who questions the very notion of “living in a place”. This sensitive approach is extended by analyses on mobilities, contemporary ruralities, the symbolic power of the map or even new territorial fractures, in particular that between Anywhere and Somewhere Illuminated by David Goodhart.

Mermoz also explores territorial fragility: decline in public services, social inequalities, crisis of local trust, feeling of relegation. Martial Foucault recalls the central role of the municipality as the last space for political proximity, while Yann Algan highlights how the restoration of local trust is a major economic and democratic challenge. The contributions of Nathalie Chusseau, Eric Chauvier or Marie Charrel give life to these analyses, between data, stories and lived experiences.

But this number is not limited to the observation. It also opens up possibilities for Reinventing territories : future of decentralization, key role of public services, the place of locally based businesses, prevention in neighborhoods, ecological transition of development. All these contributions show that a rebound is possible, provided that governance, territorial engineering and trust are better articulated.

To accompany the publication, a Breakfast debate, organized in partnership with West-France, brought together researchers, elected officials and economic actors. The exchanges highlighted a shared diagnosis: the French challenge is not so much centralization as disorganization, with diluted responsibilities and fragmented policies. A thorough reflection on territorial governance now seems essential.

True to its vocation to open the economy to society, Mermoz With this 9th issue, offers a living, embodied and demanding look at France's territories. An issue that invites you to go beyond simplistic oppositions to think of more resilient territories, at the height of lives.

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