A : Hello Johan,
J : Hi,
A : I wanted to meet you to ask you some questions about your master’s thesis.
J : Yes, no problem but I only got a few minutes. I listen to you!
A : Ok let’s start. First question: What topic are you studying for your research?
J : I am doing my master’s thesis on the relationship to nature of the “Zadists”, these environmental activists who occupy lands to prevent industrial establishment or urbanization.
A : This is an unusual topic, where does this motivation comes from to study this in a psychology research?
J : There are several reasons, first of all I have a strong interest in ecological issues regarding the protection of the environment because, as you may know, we are currently experiencing the sixth mass extinction of living things. We are witnessing brutal climate change and all of it driven by human activity. It is, therefore, the organization of these human activities that needs to be radically changed if we hope for a liveable future. This brings me to my second motivation point. Generally, studies in the social sciences and especially in psychology, obviously take the human being as an object of study, but it seems to me that, almost systematically, he is studied in institutionalized social situations. Let me explain my thoughts: very often, we will see studies on alcoholism at university, the use of social networks at work, burnout at work, altruistic behavior in the supermarket, in the public space, etc. It is everytime a question of studying individual or group behaviors, in environments where social codes are predefined. Thus, I am disappointed to see that collective behaviors leading to the emergence of ZAD for example, and which are therefore deeply social since self-organized, is not further investigated through psychology which would have a lot to contribute or which would have a lot of entry points, for example on the dimension of territorial conflicts, identities, on questions of relation to nature as I study it myself but also of spirituality, etc. And as I said, if we want to change the organization of the world we cannot do so, without paying attention to what is already being done spontaneously, sometimes in direct confrontation with the current organization of the world.
A : You tell us about ZAD, but what exactly is it?
J : Initially, the acronym “ZAD” stands for Deferred Development Zone. It is a term that the state laid down for the construction of an airport in Notre-Dame-Des-Landes in the 1970s and which was hijacked by activists in the 21st century to become a defended area called: « Zone à Défendre ». Thus, a few years ago, the term “zadiste” which designates the people occupying a ZAD, appeared in the dictionary. Although the ZAD of Notre-Dame-Des-Landes is the first to have inherited this denomination, other similar struggles of the ZAD have already existed, such as the emblematic struggle of Larzac in the 70’s, which allowed the abandonment of the expansion of a military camp. In the last ten years, many territorial struggles of this kind have emerged. Although that the one against Notre-Dame-Des-Landes airport near Nantes is the best known, others have existed, in Bure against a landfill site nuclear waste or in Sivens against a dam, sadly known to have been the scene of the homicide of Rémi Fraisse by the police, during the expulsions of 2014. Others more recent and local such as Bretignolle- sur-mer against a marina, in St Pere-en-Retz against a surf park, or in Le Carnet against the establishment of an eco-industrial site involving the destruction of 100 hectares of wetland essential for bird migration. This last one, having started at the end of August and being working so far. As I said earlier, the term ZAD had been reappropriated against the Notre-Dame-Des-Landes airport project and, although there are strong similarities between all these areas of struggle, not all of them claim to be ZAD and it would be a mistake to consider them all identical. Indeed, each one has its own challenges and each one is made up of its own actors, for example, local farming population, activists, simple citizens, etc. And so, each of them has its own social organization. Despite all of this, it seems that we recurrently observe among opponents a desire to prevent concreteization coupled with a desire for an alternative life.
A : And so, what have you found so far in your study?
J : My most important result, would show that the connection to nature of Zadist individuals is higher than the connection to nature of the general population, but the effect size of my statistic result seems a bit small. This would require more in-depth studies subsequently of mine, which would take more into account the heterogeneity of the ZAD population.
A : Alright, I guess we don’t have more time to go further, thank you very much !
J : Thanks to you ! Have a good day.
