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Conference

French

ID: <

10670/1.fqjm8d

>

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Cross the terrain into geography

Abstract

The crossing method has become common in a number of social sciences. It has recently been theorised by Mr Werner and B. Zimmermann in the book ‘Comparison with cross-history they coordinated in 2004’. The crossing makes it possible to go beyond the comparison as it is normally implemented. This raises a number of problems, particularly with regard to the position of the observer, the level of comparison and the choice of the subject-matter of the comparison. With the crossing method, entities or objects are considered not only in relation to each other, but also through each other, in terms of relationships and intersections. The researcher’s question is based on the comparison of the entities studied and his or her research object is constructed in the crossing of the land and the associated perspectives, the researcher’s perspective ultimately being at the intersection of all the others. How to conduct his land and construct his geograph search object, using the crossing method? What is the contribution and limits of this approach to geography? It is to these questions that my Communication will try to answer, based on research carried out in the context of a thesis “Public spaces in metropolitan policies”. Reflections at the intersection of three experiments: from Paris to the central districts of Berlin and Istanbul. First of all, it will be necessary to consider the theoretical contribution of cross-referencing to the comparison in geography. Secondly, it will be interesting to see how this method can be applied in this discipline, and I propose to revert to the place it has occupied in the construction of my thesis. I shall first explain how I envisaged the crossing of land in my investigative work and the specific difficulties that this choice has brought me. I will then try to present how I have built my research object and questions from there: claiming to be rooted in the Parisian terrain, I have in fact worked to cross my initial point of view with my experience of the other two plots of land, building my questions in a constant gap between cities and the problems they posed to me. Finally, as a third step, I will try to highlight the benefits of the crossing by briefly referring to the results which it has enabled me to achieve, while stressing the inevitable limits of that approach. In short, the aim here is to contribute to the discussions by taking a fresh look at the comparison in geography, which means, more generally, a twofold reflection on the place of the researcher in relation to his or her land, on the one hand, on the place of the land in the construction of his or her research object, on the other.

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