Cultural third places and commons in a world of transformations-evidence from France
Résumé
Climate change, economic crisis, digital transformation, the revolution in our working practices, the needs of the learning society and a malaise within liberal democracies are challenging global economies, as well as communication research agendas. In this context, the commons, as a mode of collective action, solidarity and governance of shared resources have emerged as an alternative paradigm in a variety of sectors (Alix et al, 2018; Zimmerman, 2020) including the creative economy (Bertacchini et al, 2012; Comunian et al, 2022; Pélissier, 2021).
Third places (tiers lieux in French) is term used in the French context to describe places that put en emphasis on doing together (faire ensemble) for better living together (vivre ensemble) (Levy-Waitz, 2018) and provide opportunities to meet, to exchange, to co-create and to experiment. In response to the challenges posed by contemporary transitions, some of those tiers lieux with a strong cultural component- that we call cultural third places- inscribe their projects in a new form of pragmatic ‘utopia’ by embodying new forms of commons (Idelon, 2022; Desgouttes, 2021; Pélissier et al, 2023) aspiring to the construction of a new society in opposition to the one based on the increasing commodification of all forms of cultural expression.
In this presentation, we will focus on the preliminary results of a research project on cultural third places and commons partially funded by the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Paris. Our methodology lies on a combination of fieldwork and documentary analysis of websites, communication material and other sources shared by the interviewees (statutes, work plans, project descriptions, etc). Our fieldwork includes site visits, observation of activities and interviews with representatives of cultural third places mainly located in the Sud Region in France (including Marseille, Avignon and Nice), but also others in Paris, Grenoble and Lyon. The fieldwork is currently underway and will be finalised with a focus group and public event gathering the representatives of the spaces we interviewed and inviting them to provide feedback on the preliminary research findings in a participatory manner. A public event to present the final results is foreseen in autumn 2023 in Paris.
Our aim is to explore in a more systematic way how these cultural third places mobilize the commons logic as an alternative organisation and narrative paradigm to respond to the challenges of the contemporary transitions. We do so by exploring how a narrative identity for cultural third places takes shape around the conceptual grid of the commons (Ostrom, 1990; Coriat, 2015) and how it translates into actions, activities and new forms of governance.
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