Issues of the conference

The term "nomad" is being updated in the humanities and social sciences and most often refers to an unprecedented diversification of mobilities and migrations in the world. In this sense, this colloquium aims to continue the reflection and interdisciplinary exchange initiated in the framework of the book Nomad Lives, the release of which will coincide with the colloquium.

One of the objectives of this conference is to debate these terms and characterizations and – perhaps - to arrive at common or at least convergent insights in order to fully promote transdisciplinarity in Human and Social Sciences research. However, this colloquium also focuses on the future of these societies and of their functioning. If nomadism is a red thread in the long history of humanity, the relationship to nomadism has evolved through various socio-economic and political contexts. The globalized economy of production, subjecting humanity to political, social, sanitary and climatic transformations and imperatives, brings to the fore the question of the future of nomadism. In recent decades, groups have been forced to change their way of in a rapid and brutal fashion, to settle in cities instead of moving around. The abandonment of the nomadic way of life has been radically intensified in the contemporary period. Meanwhile, new forms of (semi-) nomadism are emerging as a result of lasting political destabilization or of ecological and economic changes that force sedentary populations into constant mobility. Thus, in increasingly mobile societies, the nomadic/sedentary divide, already debatable and debated, becomes even more blurred and the use of the term nomad takes on a metaphorical tonality.

The symposium is organized in 4 sessions, each centered on a specific theme. See details of the themes in the tabs on the left of the website.