17 research outputs found
Lament as Transitional Justice
Works of human rights literature help to ground the formal rights system in an informal rights ethos. Writers have developed four major modes of human rights literature: protest, testimony, lament, and laughter. Through interpretations of poetry in Carolyn ForchĂ©âs anthology, Against Forgetting, and novels from Rwanda, the United States, and Bosnia, I focus on the mode of lament, the literature of mourning. Lament is a social and ritualized form, the purposes of which are congruent with the aims of transitional justice institutions. Both laments and truth commissions employ grieving narratives to help survivors of human rights trauma bequeath to the ghosts of the past the justice of a monument while renewing the survivorsâ capacity for rebuilding civil society in the future. Human rights scholars need a broader, extra-juridical meaning for âtransitional justiceâ if we hope to capture its power
Participatory modelling of social and ecological dynamics in mountain landscapes subjected to spontaneous ash reforestation
International audienceThe future of the agriculture in mountain areas constitutes an important stake for sustainable development in relation to landscape functions and their role in local economies. This future depends highly on its ability to develop innovative and multifunctional agricultural systems and to preserve its attractiveness for future generations. Encroachment and reforestation of landscapes, which comes from land abandonment and extensification of land use, raise important topical issues. In Pyrenean valleys, where the land is colonised by the ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior), local land managers and policy-makers want to understand better the relationships between the ecological and social processes in order to assist in the design of policies supporting constructive change. Here we present the âcompanion modellingâ approach in which we are all together constructing a simulation model for carrying out a prospective study of land use and landscape changes in the region. According to the principles of this participatory approach, we started developing a spatialised multi-agent model, whose main conceptual aspects are presented here below. The model simulates the evolution of land cover of the agricultural landscape in relation to both the natural and anthropogenic dynamics. Ecological field studies having stressed the role of mowing and grazing practices at the parcel level on colonisation of the local landscape by the ash tree, we focus on the account of prospective change in farmersâ land management practices (viewed as a set of decision rules) and their impact. This ongoing study underlines the interest of spatially explicit modelling of the inter-relationships between social and ecological dynamics at the agricultural landscape scale based on an interdisciplinary approach for dealing with rural development topical issues. Both the advantages gained and the difficulties raised are discussed.Lâavenir de lâagriculture en zone de montagne spĂ©cialisĂ©e sur lâĂ©levage constitue un enjeu de dĂ©veloppement important, fortement conditionnĂ© par sa capacitĂ© Ă dĂ©velopper des systĂšmes innovants pour assurer les diffĂ©rents services nĂ©cessaires au dĂ©veloppement durable de ces territoires. En particulier, les consĂ©quences du boisement spontanĂ© des paysages par le frĂȘne (Fraxinus excelsior) suite Ă l'abandon ou la rĂ©duction de leur exploitation par les agriculteurs interpellent les acteurs du dĂ©veloppement des territoires de montagne, qui souhaitent mieux comprendre les relations entre processus Ă©cologiques et sociaux pour dĂ©finir les politiques les mieux adaptĂ©es aux enjeux du maintien de la qualitĂ© visuelle et culturelle des paysages, de la prĂ©servation de la biodiversitĂ© et des ressources naturelles. Dans ce contexte, nous prĂ©sentons la dĂ©marche de« modĂ©lisation d'accompagnement » qui a Ă©tĂ© mise en oeuvre dans une commune des PyrĂ©nĂ©es françaises pour co-construire entre chercheurs et acteurs du dĂ©veloppement un modĂšle d'analyse prospective des changements de lâutilisation des terres et des paysages. Cette mĂ©thode participative a conduit Ă entreprendre le dĂ©veloppement d'un modĂšle multi agent spatialisĂ© dont nous prĂ©sentons les aspects conceptuels les plus importants. Ce modĂšle permet de simuler l'Ă©volution de l'occupation du sol de lâensemble des exploitations agricoles sous l'effet de dynamiques naturelles et anthropiques conjointes prenant en compte les stratĂ©gies et pratiques de gestion des Ă©leveurs, du niveau de lâexploitation Ă celui de la parcelle et leur effet sur l'installation potentielle du frĂȘne (Ă travers les opĂ©rations de fauche et de pĂąturage des parcelles). Cette Ă©tude dont le dĂ©veloppement se poursuit illustre l'intĂ©rĂȘt dâune modĂ©lisation intĂ©grĂ©e et spatialement explicite des relations entre dynamiques sociales et dynamiques Ă©cologiques Ă lâĂ©chelle d'un paysage agricole dans un cadre interdisciplinaire pour lâappui au dĂ©veloppement. L'originalitĂ© de la mĂ©thode mise en oeuvre et les difficultĂ©s soulevĂ©es sont discutĂ©es