Nature

International audienceFrom the ancient times to the present debates on nature and environment, the idea of Nature has been one of the main concepts which interested Geographers. This paper deals with the representations of this idea in the works of thinkers who played a major role in shaping modern Geography, with a special focus on the Mediterranean world. It aims to clarify how Nature was important in defining heuristic strategies of the geographical sciences and their explications of reality. In the first part of the paper, we start from the early definitions of Geography, provided by Greek authors, and arrive to the establishment of the classical geography between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th, stressing the line which started from the German Erdkunde and led to the creation of classical national schools in Europe at the end of the 19th century. In the second part, we deal with the relationship between Geography and different ecological and environmental ideas in the last century. Finally, we state that the role of Geographers in shaping the present environmental topics, dealing with ecology, landscape and planning is more important than what is normally believed, and that the role of the Mediterranean world in that is a major one

Nature

International audienceFrom the ancient times to the present debates on nature and environment, the idea of Nature has been one of the main concepts which interested Geographers. This paper deals with the representations of this idea in the works of thinkers who played a major role in shaping modern Geography, with a special focus on the Mediterranean world. It aims to clarify how Nature was important in defining heuristic strategies of the geographical sciences and their explications of reality. In the first part of the paper, we start from the early definitions of Geography, provided by Greek authors, and arrive to the establishment of the classical geography between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th, stressing the line which started from the German Erdkunde and led to the creation of classical national schools in Europe at the end of the 19th century. In the second part, we deal with the relationship between Geography and different ecological and environmental ideas in the last century. Finally, we state that the role of Geographers in shaping the present environmental topics, dealing with ecology, landscape and planning is more important than what is normally believed, and that the role of the Mediterranean world in that is a major one

Mobilisations laïques versus mobilisations religieuses en Italie

Les mobilisations laïques et religieuses sont le reflet du cumul de plusieurs processus contradictoires mais complémentaires. Elles expriment à la fois une volonté d'insertion individuelle dans la société italienne, une demande légitime de participation à la vie publique laïque sous différentes formes et le besoin pour de nombreux musulmans de s'identifier dans une communauté encore à construire; mais elle témoignent aussi du poids du regard de l'Autre sur les stratégies que les musulmans adoptent dans l'espace public italien. L'on ne saurait comprendre la typologie des mobilisations et la structure du mouvement associatif sans tenir compte de la construction sociale d'une «exception musulmane» qui dessine en fait l'espace d'interaction disponible entre les musulmans et la société italienne. C'est ainsi qu'il faut lire par exemple la surreprésentation des associations religieuses musulmanes au sein du réseau associatif étranger, comme les difficultés rencontrées dans la construction d'un islam italien susceptible d'assumer son pluralisme interne. Le champ associatif apparait toutefois pour les musulmans comme une des rares opportunités de devenir «acteur» sur la scène publique afin de «déconstruire» le discours dont ils sont l'objet et de multiplier les occasions d'interactions sociales, en particulier au niveau local. Difficultés à trouver un style de communication publique, tensions et médiations accompagnent aujourd'hui cette entreprise de visibilité sociale

State and peripheries: the political geography of the Maldives between uniformity and segregation

La Repubblica delle Maldive negli ultimi decenni, almeno dagli anni novanta del ventesimo secolo ad oggi, è stata oggetto di spinte trasformative riconducibili all’incremento degli investimenti esteri e nazionali sul settore turistico, alla dipendenza energetica dai paesi produttori di greggio e, infine, all’introduzione e al consolidamento di modelli di consumo allogeni. In letteratura ha prevalso un’attenzione culturalista sulle conseguenze di queste trasformazioni. Noi proponiamo una lettura alternativa che si fonda su due concetti molto celebri nella geografia politica: il modello “centro periferia” e il “paesaggio politico” nelle versioni di Reynaud e di Lacoste. Il contributo mostra come lo Stato centrale, durante gli ultimi decenni, ha esercitato una funzione di controllo sulle comunità periferiche, come tale controllo sia leggibile attraverso questi modelli interpretativi e come la geografia politica maldiviana possa essere letta utilizzando le categorie della segregazione e dell’omologazione. In questo contributo ci si concentra sulla lettura di alcuni atti politici e sull’osservazione di un contesto locale specifico, l’isola di Faaf-Magoodhoo, dove gli autori svolgono ricerche sulla geografia sociale e ambientale presso il MaRHE Center dell’Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca.The Republic of the Maldives during the last decades, at least since the Nineties, has been involved by a complex body of transformative forces due to some factors: the increasing foreign investments in the tourism market; the dependency on oil producing Countries; and the introduction of new consumption models. The literature focused on a “culturalist” approach to these transformations. We aim at proposing an alternative analysis based on two pivotal concepts of Political Geography: the CenterPeriphery Model and the idea of “Political Landscape”, according to Reynaud and Lacoste. The contribution stresses how the central State, during the last decades, has imposed a control on local communities, how such control can be read through these two interpretive models, and how the political geography of the Maldives can be understood by adopting the spatial categories of segregation and uniformity. In this paper we develop our analysis both by reading two political acts, and by observing a specific local context, Faaf-Magoodhoo, an island where the authors carry out researches on environmental and social geography hosted by the MaRHE Center of the University of MilanoBicocca

The right place. Solid waste management in the Republic of Maldives: between infrastructural measures and local practices

Abstract The 2010 UNPD's Assessment of Development Results defined the Maldives "a vulnerable Small Island Developing State" by pointing out the influence of both external and local human factors on their fragile ecosystems. This impact is deeply related to a main geographical feature: the high dispersion of land mass and population, both of them spread over a distance of 860 km. Above all, this dispersion has an effect on two environmental issues: energy distribution and solid waste management. The latter is particularly interesting for the geographical analysis of Small Island Countries. Due to centre-periphery distance and cost benefits analysis, in the Maldives public and private actors have developed different solid waste management models: central and regional waste management dumpsites, hybrid systems implemented by resorts and "informal" practices still followed by local communities. In this paper, we discuss these systems stressing on the relevance of combining infrastructural measures with "informal" practices at local level. Furthermore, we report the outcomes of The Right Place, a participatory waste management action carried out by MaRHE Center (a Milano- Bicocca Research Center) in Faafu Magoodhoo Island

Global shifts, theoretical shifts: changing geographies of religion

10.1177/0309132510362602Progress in Human Geography346755-77

Indirect DNA Readout by an H-NS Related Protein: Structure of the DNA Complex of the C-Terminal Domain of Ler

Ler, a member of the H-NS protein family, is the master regulator of the LEE pathogenicity island in virulent Escherichia coli strains. Here, we determined the structure of a complex between the DNA-binding domain of Ler (CT-Ler) and a 15-mer DNA duplex. CT-Ler recognizes a preexisting structural pattern in the DNA minor groove formed by two consecutive regions which are narrower and wider, respectively, compared with standard B-DNA. The compressed region, associated with an AT-tract, is sensed by the side chain of Arg90, whose mutation abolishes the capacity of Ler to bind DNA. The expanded groove allows the approach of the loop in which Arg90 is located. This is the first report of an experimental structure of a DNA complex that includes a protein belonging to the H-NS family. The indirect readout mechanism not only explains the capacity of H-NS and other H-NS family members to modulate the expression of a large number of genes but also the origin of the specificity displayed by Ler. Our results point to a general mechanism by which horizontally acquired genes may be specifically recognized by members of the H-NS family

Letter to H.B. Stenzel from Paolo Schmidt di Friedberg on 1964-07-29

Jackson School of Geoscience