The French School of Proximity

Genesis and evolution of a school of thought

Bibliographic Data

ID20075056
AuthorsJean-Benoît Zimmermann (Aix-Marseille Université), Angelo Torres (0000-0001-5644-7520, Département Sciences pour l’Action et le Développement), Andre Torre, M Grossetti (0000-0003-0796-3937, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarités Sociétés Territoires)
Year2022
Publication date2022-01-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueHandbook of Proximity Relations (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4337/9781786434784.00009
OpenAlexW3205937044
ISBN9781786434784
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited10

In this chapter, we revisit the origins and genesis of the French school of proximity and its evolution trough time, in order to better understand how and why the small group of researchers who were the driving force of this new way of thinking were quickly able to get a real legitimacy and effective recognition. First of all, it was clear that the role of space in economic dynamics was too often the subject of confusion and abusive assertions. Asking this question in terms of coordination made it possible to consider non-spatial factors in the analysis. The notion of proximity as a polysemic concept therefore opened the way to understanding how space matters or not, together with these other factors thus a renewed approach of questions related to space and territories. But, even starting from issues of economic nature, such an approach could not remain limited to its economic dimension, the questions of coordination involving social individuals, located in geographical space but also embedded in bundles of relationships and in institutions. Thus, it had to broaden very quickly to other disciplines in social sciences which largely contributed to consolidate the bases of what became a multidisciplinary approach and to develop theoretical as well as empirical tools

Business · Confusion · Epistemology · Legitimacy · Multidisciplinary approach · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Computer Science · European Socioeconomic and Political Studies · French Urban and Social Studies · Law · Psychology

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