Social Production of Pastures and Spatial Inscription of Pastoral Sheep Farmers in the Southern Alps
Type de matériel :
67
Landscape of mountains and hilly areas of the Provence region are shaped by livestock farming and pastoralism. In that context, we analyse a special way for sheep livestock farming in extension since fifteen years: large size flocks, grazing all year long. These highly mobile farmers organize transhumance of flocks in alpine grassland for summer and on coastal plains during winter. We describe the relationship they build in the three pedo-climatic stages through which they move and the social networks they rely on, within the livestock farming actors and out of it in these territories. We show how lowlands are the place for an established “grazing economy”. It is based on one side on proximity social networks supporting reciprocity and, on the other side, on financial fluxes of a straight market economy. The conclusion analyses the social dimensions of these redesigns of livestock farming activities.
Réseaux sociaux