The MSH at Clermont Ferrand has identified three scientific themes (‘Territories, Transmissions, Transitions’, ‘Revolutions, Reforms, Ruptures’, ‘Work, Employment and Society’) as well as an interdisciplinary methodological approach that looks into the methods and tools used in the humanities and social sciences. It issues regular calls for research projects to support innovative scientific programmes. It organises symposiums, conferences, lectures and seminars, and makes scientific podcasts and films available to the general public to bridge the gap between research and society.

Theme 1: Territories, Transitions and Transmissions (3T)

Territory, whether referring to urban or rural territory, has taken on a largely political connotation in the language of today. The Latin term ‘territorius’ originally designated a zone conquered by the Roman army and under military authority. How should this notion, which while still true is rather reductive, be unpicked, developed and deconstructed for periods when territory expands and contracts as a result of conflicts, is administered, developed, surveyed, occupied and regenerates itself? ‘Territory is the basis for conquest. Territory requires and legitimizes affiliation. It is defined by its boundaries, which it wants to expand’, explains Édouard Glissant. To talk about territory is of course to evoke both cultural heritage and the physical remains that characterize a demarcated area, and the geography that has shaped it. It is above all, though, the ceaseless interplay between nature and culture. This theme looks at the notion of territory in all its multiple forms, on different scales, from local to global, and over time, from the Holocene to the Anthropocene. All ideas are explored and analysed without preconceptions: for example, those of landscape, proximity, resources, communal goods, social or artistic representations, as well as isolation, subordination, even colonization. This leads to topics touching on the control of territory, which in turn leads to the connections between living things, and biodiversity. This can also reflect a deterioration in the state of the territory, which can be looked at from many angles, geographic, economic, social and philosophical. ‘Deterritorialization’ often implies an almost simultaneous existence of ‘reterritorialization’, to pick up on a famous pair of words coined by Deluze and Guattari, which should be considered, too. It is also important today to examine the idea of transition in all its forms (demographic, social, environmental, architectural). While ecological transition, for example, is not constrained by clearly-defined boundaries, it still has an influence on the development of a territory. And inversely, local dynamics can sometimes help resolve highly complex global problems on a small or medium scale. The habitability of territories in a transitional context encourages a systemic approach, looking at both inhabitants and their ways of life in an innovative interdisciplinary way. The challenges linked to transitions are also, to some degree, those involved in transmission. How to educate and train people to be eco-citizens, to adapt to climate change and sustainable ways of living? More generally, within the triple context of this theme, we can look at the ways by which transmission creates social links within territories and between them, and the way in which their heritage and know-how (tangible heritage, languages, local customs, etc.) are transmitted, circulate or are manifested through the arts, via theatre, visual arts, literature and music.

 

Theme 2: Revolutions, Reforms, Ruptures (3R)

This theme is based on a long-existing interest in revolution by researchers at UCA. The Centre de Recherches Révolutionnaires et Romantiques (CRRR) was created in 1970 by the Université Blaise-Pascal (which merged with the University of Auvergne in 2017 to form UCA). A conference on Les Fêtes de la Revolution (Robespierre Society, 1974) took place shortly afterwards. This interest has been maintained over the years, spreading to other disciplines. It is clear that no period has been left unmarked by the bloodied sickle of insurrection, revolt or riot, from the risings in ancient times to the Arab Spring, by way of those of the Middle Ages, the Glorious Revolution, the French Revolution, and the industrial revolution. The fact that the history of revolutions continues to inspire fascination today lies in the fact that they pose fundamental questions about values, models and social outcasts. When viewed over the long term, this theme provides insight into how people from ancient times to the 21st century have forged their independence, risen up and created new paths. The causes of the revolutions are investigated - of political, cultural, religious, philosophical, linguistic, educational, artistic, economic, or even digital origin - although this is not the sole purpose of the theme. Other questions can be looked at: how have laws accompanied societal transformations? How, with retrospect, do we view them, and how were the multiple rebellions put down, as well as how did they come about? And how do we live with their heritage today? Investigating revolutions, which lay waste to a past considered at the time to be undesirable in order to come up with new ways forward, involves taking into account that reform also illustrates a ‘reestablishment of order, in its old form or a new one’. Yet, this reestablishment sometimes signifies a powerful renewal, which could include spiritual, social or intellectual elements. While some people in the past tried to transform Christianity in the name of reform, or later reorganize the penitentiary system, people nowadays want to reform the pension system, make major changes to the education system, or rethink cultural and artistic classifications. In what way is reform more acceptable than revolution? And how to evaluate these multiple reforms that traverse and divide our societies, sometimes up to a point of no return, leading to rupture. It is also important to look at this idea of rupture from different perspectives (historical, geographical, legal, linguistic, artistic, architectural, economic, educational, anthropological, literary, philosophical, social, etc.). Rupture leads to radical changes in the way we understand and present the world (an epistemological rupture still exists in many literature reviews in social and human sciences), it implies a stoppage, an abrupt break, a cancellation, with no sign of a future: a treaty is broken, a ban is breached. It thus implies a form of violence, which may be symbolic or affective, which can become sustainably rooted in a landscape – this covers spatial discontinuities – leading to the collapse of civilizations, the annihilation of peoples, of histories being wiped out. The three parts to this theme are therefore used to show how societies have always evolved by means of successive revolutions, reforms, and/or ruptures, inciting different modes of resistance, organized or otherwise, to these sometimes progressive, sometimes brutal movements.

Theme 3: Work, Employment and Society
Much has been written on the automation of work in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. Capitalism in turn has generated its own critical approaches to production processes and ever-increasing consumption. Today, in a digital and post-human age we need to rethink this notion in the light of new approaches (what de we think about remote working? Digitization? Artificial intelligence? Health at work?), without ignoring historical, philosophical, anthropological and social information from the past which has contributed to our understanding of work over the last few centuries and provides insight into how it might function in the context of increasing climate issues. It is well known that Mark celebrated animal labour. Hannah Arendt, in The Condition of Modern Man, distinguished two types of work: one that is repetitive, cyclical, by which humans transform nature to produce goods that are useful to their existence; and one that creates things, objects designed to last rather than consumables. For this German-born American, so-called work is destined to be repeated indefinitely, while creation has a start and an end, and most importantly it outlives us. This tension between work and creation could be one way to approach this new theme, which is intended to embrace management, literature, law and philosophy, and can be applied more broadly to any discipline within the MSH at Clermont Ferrand. While it can be perceived as a form of suffering, linked to the sometimes contested etymological root (tripalium), or as a form of emancipation, discussion of work can lead to questions on isolation, freedom, and interdependence. It lies at the heart of the human condition, and often forms the foundations of society: although working can provide a feeling of inclusion, being without work can lead to worry, anxiety, ostracism, marginalization and exclusion. These phenomena will be the object of renewed attention by members of the HSS, whose role is to analyse the way in which we make sense of the world around us. Looking at these three parts of this new theme will also, de facto, involve determining the links between training and work (reviewing learning methods, entering the workplace, regulations, and ergonomics - in the sense of how a person and their work environment function together); to think about political, cultural and economic changes to ways of working (social and solidarity economy, fair trade, degrowth, social and environmental responsibility, among others); to try and understand how work and employment are viewed and represented in different cultures, at different times and in different territories (by investigating their social capital and their dynamics). This leads to numerous questions on the relationship between humans and machines (often represented fantastically in science-fiction), artisanal work and art, exchange and trade, production and the finite nature of resources, action and inaction, and the power balance between those that dominate and those that are dominated. Work tells us much about the power relations that have long existed in society: situations relating to slavery, women relegated to the home, and workers struggles, all raise questions about autonomy, subjugation, degradation and impoverishment. In a white paper entitled ‘30 ans de recherches en sciences humaines et sociales sur le travail… et après ?’ Thierry Berthet and Delphine Mercier highlight that French research from 1990 has resulted in insufficient data, a lack of interaction between research and public policy, and gaps in publishing work internationally. These failings serve as targets for the researchers (in the broadest sense) from all disciplines at the MSH at Clermont Ferrand.
Interdisciplinary themes

The idea of an ‘interdisciplinary’ theme is to draw on all the different disciplines in the name of truly ‘open’ scientific research. This interdisciplinarity requires common scientific practices to be valued and adapted and shared between researchers, lecturers, technical staff, and post-graduate and masters’ students. This need for interdisciplinarity is the result of collective discussion amongst all the disciplines about the new tools available in the HSS, and how researchers deal with these new tools, digital or otherwise, and the questions they raise. New ways of conducting research are being implemented within the departments that belong to the MSH. One example is research-creation, which produces experimental protocols and rejects the idea of a world in which the processes for creating a work are clearly distinguished from those used to analyse it: several groups associated with the MSH at Clermont-Ferrand are currently investing in this field. Another example is action research, conducted in collaboration between a collective and one or more researchers, which is currently being employed at the MSH through an Interreg-Sudoe project (‘Cultur-Monts’). There is also participatory research, which involves citizens or associations and produces specific knowledge on a given subject (such as the ‘Spectacles de curiosités’ project). This type of research generates surveys, proposes prototypes, and combines pure scientific reflection with innovative field practices. Lastly, Artificial Intelligence is being used (in the ‘EncyclopédIA’ project), which is already giving rise to several research projects in the social sciences and humanities and is transforming their scope. In their different ways, these new practices all offer new means of producing material, and alternative ways to access knowledge, and are easily deployable in MSHs, which are flexible, open and adaptable.


The research methods employed in the MSH at Clermont Ferrand are thus highly diverse and are suited to these new tools. The technology platforms also play a key role in innovating new methodologies: they are powerful levers for experimentation, transfer of material and for insight into major challenges, such as open science, and data in general. Good practice in acquiring, using, sharing, reusing and archiving data for scientific research is naturally at the heart of the new issues the MSH is facing. It has to train, direct, provide help, while also putting new networks in place.

Above and beyond these observations, this interdisciplinarity will enable us to reflect collectively on ethical and scientific questions, particularly ones linked to scientific ethics: how do the new tools add to the research carried out in the social and human sciences? What questions should be raised to improve and adapt them to the constraints of current-day research? How to improve and ensure the sustainability of the databases we produce?

It is clear that the new tools available for the social and human sciences provoke reflection into how they are used, and also as to how the research data produced is shared. Videos can be seen not only as a tool, but also as a means to reach a different audience. Collaboration with the University Press can lead to a diversification from the classic editorial selection towards new hybrid ways to diffuse research. Creating, producing, diffusing, valorizing and fact checking of research data will thus be central to this interdisciplinary approach, which will involve a researcher working in conjunction with a technician in each case.