Systems and reversals, structures and contingencies in the intellectual career of François Durand-Dastès (2 encadrés; 2 fig.)
The singularity of the experience of the systems paradigm according to François Durand-Dastès is investigated in light of his life as a geographer of the “1930 generation” and as an intellectual. This led us to the conclusion that he is an original “inconformist”. The corpus of his works reveals the recurrence of one form, the feedback loop, and the rejection of the “ultimate causality” concept that are interpreted here through two angles of analysis. First, a conceptual approach that enabled us to situate his systemic construction in the first phase of this intellectual movement. Secondly, a historical and social study of his initial references, in the context of his training at the Paris Institute of Geography and his Communist involvement in the immediate post-war period.
keywords: COMBINAISON, COMPLEXITY, DIALECTICS, MARXISM, SYSTEMICS
François Durand-Dastès: Tropical climates and climatic tropisms (3 fig.; 1 tabl.)
It is not easy to compartmentalise François Durand-Dastès’ work, yet it is safe to say that tropical climates are one of his preferred study objects, and the first one he worked on. We aim at examining how the work of François Durand-Dastès has contributed to French research in tropical climatology, a research field whose evolution we will also detail. The article is structured around two elements: tropical climate characteristics, and François Durand-Dastès’ contribution to the methodological and epistemological renewal in geographical climatology, based on tropical examples. This contribution will be seen from three angles: climate scales, climate systems, and the use of quantitative methods.
keywords: CLIMATOLOGICAL APPROACH, CLIMATE SYSTEM, INDIAN MONSOON, SCALE, TROPICAL ZONE
A rereading of François Durand-Dastès’s contribution to climatology, by three French climate geographers (10 fig.; 1 tabl.)
François Durand-Dastès was attached to Max Sorre’s definition of climate: “the climate of a place is the series of states of the atmosphere in their usual succession”. He wanted climatology to be explanatory rather than descriptive, and was as interested in the local and/or temporal particularities of atmospheric circulation and climates as he was in their general characteristics. The complex physical systems that he wrote about very clearly in the book Géographie des airs were later illustrated by sagittal graphs that he coupled with those representing agricultural systems. And, as a universalist, he always evoked the other determinants of human systems: history, politics, culture… Us three geographers-climatologists who have worked with him, propose a (re)interpretation of his writings and images, showing his scientific legacy in climatology.
keywords: AGRICULTURE, CLIMATE, CLIMATOLOGY, FRANÇOIS DURANDDASTÈS, INDIAN WORLD, TEACHING
Irrigated agriculture in India: Before the Green revolution, an assessment by François Durand-Dastès (6 fig.; 1 tabl.)
Over half a century ago, François Durand- Dastès wrote his first article on irrigation in India. The Green Revolution had not yet begun. It was still “insurance irrigation” rather than “creative irrigation”, where there were no private boreholes. This article deals with self-subsistence agriculture, and although the issues of working time and investment are raised in the article, the problem of marketing, so important in explaining the success of the Green Revolution, is not discussed. However, premonitory hypotheses are evident: the possibility of a return to rain-fed farming, the lack of land titles… – all issues that are relevant to Indian agriculture today.
keywords: AGRICULTURE, BOREHOLES, DAM, INDIA, IRRIGATION
The regions of India: In the footsteps of François Durand-Dastès (2 encadrés; 2 fig.)
This article provides an introduction to the regional geography of India developed by François Durand-Dastès from the first edition of his “Que sais-je?” La Géographie de l’Inde (1965) to the publication of “Monde indien” in “Géographie universelle” (1995) and Asies nouvelles (2002). F. Durand-Dastès formulated an analytical framework and established territorial divisions in the 1960s that he later reviewed to align with innovations in the discipline and with the development of the country; these tools are still useful today to analyse India and its geography, despite the major shifts provoked by globalisation.
keywords: FRANÇOIS DURAND-DASTÈS, INDIA, REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY, URBAN GEOGRAPHY
François Durand-Dastès, an analyst of Indian electoral geography (6 fig.; 1 tabl.)
In a chapter of a collective work published in 2015 and illustrated with original maps, François Durand-Dastès reflects on Indian democracy and analyses the general elections that have taken place since Independence. He presents what he calls “the Indian exception”: the ability to establish a multi-party system with 173 million voters in 1952, 834 million in 2014, and over 968 million in 2024. Because it puts the emphasis on permanent features, evolutions and regional specificities, the study is useful to understand the current state of this vibrant democracy, now under illiberal pressure…
keywords: FRANÇOIS DURAND-DASTÈS, ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY, INDIA, POLICIES
Jean-Pierre MARCHAND. From models to systems: A theory for geography. François Durand-Dastès from 1969 to 2011 (1 encadré; 9 fig.)
François Durand-Dastès left his mark on French geography through his pioneering research on models and systems. The “system/model” complementarity, the emphasis made on the role of spatial interactions and the temporal dimension of systems are all major contributions for all branches of geography.
keywords: DURAND-DASTÈS, MODEL, SPATIAL INTERACTION, SYSTEM
Demographic transition, urban transition, consumption. An approach based on the Brazilian case (7 fig.; 3 tabl.)
This paper explores the mechanisms in Brazil that link changes in lifestyles to demographic change and urbanisation. We describe the main characteristics of demographic transition and urban growth, underlining the fact that they coincide historically. We then illustrate the changes in consumption patterns by analysing food and clothing consumption. Finally, we demonstrate the links that exist between lifestyles and changes in demographic structures and spatial frameworks. We develop the idea that social change and shifts in the material conditions of existence are, in part, driven by the sum of individual behaviours that make up demographic dynamics.
keywords: CONSUMPTION, DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION, GLOBAL SOUTH, URBAN TRANSITION
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Last modified: June 15, 2025
