Oiry-Varacca Mari

Mari’s research deals with the different ways by which individuals and social groups identify to territories, at different scales, and the manner with which identifications are negotiated, giving birth to complex territorialities. Part of the field of cultural and political geography, her work is also inspired by historical and anthropological approaches. She is interested in understanding how identifications are socially constructed, in their temporal and spatial dimensions. Her PhD was about dynamics of identification and social change linked to tourism development in African mountains, especially the Moroccan Atlas. Her postdoctoral research explores the multiple links between processes of territorialisation and processes of transnationalisation. She investigates the role played by members of Diasporas in the invention and valorisation of heritage in their regions of origin. Drawing on the field of post-national studies, and applying a qualitative methodological approach, the study focuses on two cases: the engagement of Berber Diaspora / Scottish Diaspora in projects promoting the cultural heritage of the mountains in the Atlas / in the Highlands. Diasporic actors, during their life course, have made major displacements, including rural to urban migration and international emigration, during which they have accrued contacts, resources and knowledge. The study analyses how their mobility can be useful in advancing their heritage projects. Their projects can conflict with those advanced by other local actors or with the visions of the local inhabitants. The research examines the conflicts that arise, and the identifications, memories, and distinct territorialities that are bring into play.

She's now lecturer in geography at Université Paris Est Marne-la-Vallée (UPEM) at APC laboratory.

More information on her laboratory webpage.