Understanding societies in the tropical and Mediterranean regions

The primary objective of the IRD’s “Societies and globalisation” (SOC) department is to understand contemporary societies in the tropical and Mediterranean regions while analysing the dynamics which underlie them. Research conducted takes an interdisciplinary approach to social challenges, with a view to demonstrating their implications and relevance for countries in both the South and the North. The various research programmes strive to understand the dynamics at work in the diverse array of societies. They all have in-depth knowledge of the field and apply their approach at several levels.

In 2018, the Department supported a number of structural actions. This includes support for society-environment observatories such as the Observatory of Small Mammals Indicative of Environmental Changes - case of the Senegal Delta (ObsMICE), as well as summer schools in Asia (Social Sciences Winter school in Pondicherry; Manusatra/ Monsoon university, Cambodia; “WANASEA” summer school, Vietnam) or Africa (BiogrAfrique in Uganda; Tany Voa in Madagascar; a summer school in Morocco). Many of them could be made permanent – in conjunction with local partners and/or the French higher education and research system.

The department also supported the development of a digital library collecting scientific journals published in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries as part of a colonial, or even post-colonial context.