From a sensitive Ecology to a Political Ecology of Ambiances. Issues and Challenges?

Damien Masson (1, 2) , Rachel Thomas (2)

1 MRTE - EA 4112 - Laboratoire Mobilités, Réseaux, Territoires, Environnements
2 CRESSON - Centre de recherche sur l'espace sonore et l'environnement urbain

The interest in ambiances or atmospheres largely contributed to the clarification of the role of sensory phenomena of space, perceptual modalities and affects in the construction of social life. Among the research on ambiance and atmospheres, some of them question the effects of ambiance policies on forms of civility in public, and on ways of being in the world as well as living together. In doing so, they contribute to the politicization of urban ambiances. With a prospective aim, this chapter extends this strand towards the field of urban political ecology. By questioning the modalities and issues involved in opening up this latter field to the sensory, this text aims to indicate what a “political ecology of ambiances” could be and what it could do.

Mots clés: Urban Ambiances; Social and Sensory Ecologies; Politics; Living Well Together

Domaines: Architecture, aménagement de l'espace

Damien Masson, Rachel Thomas. From a sensitive Ecology to a Political Ecology of Ambiances. Issues and Challenges?. Proceedings of the 4th International Congress on Ambiances, Alloaesthesia: Senses, Inventions, Worlds, Dec 2020, e-conference, France. pp. 268-273, ⟨10.48537/hal-03220314⟩. ⟨hal-03220314⟩