THE WEST IN THE FACE OF CRISES SINCE THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. RETURNING TO THE LAND AND TO LOCALITY IS ONE OF THE TRADITIONAL RESPONSES TO CRISES

Abstract

Responses to epidemics and climate change since ancient times, as well as their interpretations, ar e recurrent in times of crisis. Confronted with what may appear to be a series of global crises - health, environmental, economic and even democratic - the ideas on the virtues of what is local and rural are becoming increasingly important. We propose to put this return to locality ‘in historical perspective’. The first part of the paper presents the major events, in France, and explains the major changes in the agricultural world between the 18th and 19th centuries. The second part highlights the aesthetic, artistic, utopian and literary reactions to the ravages of industrialisation in France and England. The third part deals with the integration of nature in the city since the 18th century, and then the nostalgic aspirations for working the land since the 19th century. Finally, in these times of pandemic, we conclude this study on the current movements of degrowth, ecology and return to the local, in favour of food and collective gardens.