By bringing together a hundred authors for an unprecedented tour of France, Fabrice Argounès, Michel Bussi and Martine Drozdz offer with “Our common places – A geography of the contemporary world” (Fayard) a playful and profound exploration of our daily spaces. Between familiar and exotic places, their work invites us to rethink what forms the basis of our collective imaginations, from the stadium to rentals on Airbnb, from the “thirst street” to the nightclub.
Fabrice Argounès, Michel Bussi and Martine Drozdz publish Our common places – A geography of the contemporary world (Fayard). They invited around a hundred authors to undertake a sociological, anthropological and philosophical Grand Tour of France: a playful exploration of what shapes our relationship with the world and establishes our imaginations. From the stadium stand to the Airbnb apartment, from the village square to the gay district, from the security gate to the “thirst street”, from the schoolyard to the nightclub, this journey covers places as familiar as they are inaccessible.
To illustrate the work of the authors, nothing is more evocative than the photographs of Éric Tabuchi in his Atlas of natural regions, available here. This panorama of “French-style” living spaces, sometimes in decline, sometimes still alive, can be consulted online and offers striking visual insight. The photograph accompanying this article is taken from it.
Marianne : The idea of common places is often associated with familiar spaces. How do you redefine this notion to include more surprising places, such as gallodromes or political party headquarters?
Belgium
