De la terre au territoire: the reinvention of French rural space

Abstract

This article seeks to explore how the two dominant policy agendas of postwar rural France, agricultural modernisation and aménagement du territoire, have, over the last few years, taken a decisive turn towards new forms of intervention and new spatial configurations. The Contrats territoriaux d'exploitation and the Pays collectively represent a reaffirmation of territorial difference, individuality and identity. In doing so, both have challenged the traditional mechanisms and institutions of policy making in their respective domains and both have had, as a result, lengthy and not uncontroversial periods of gradual appropriation.