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The world in its challenges and contradictions

Denise Pumain
Translated by Alvin Harberts
This article is a translation of:
Le monde en ses défis et ses contradictions
Other translation(s):
El mundo en sus desafíos y contradicciones

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1In this month of January, Cybergeo journal wishes all its readers, authors, proofreaders and collaborators from all countries a happy 2019!

2Happiness would thus be a universal category, the only one that can perhaps be addressed without any ulterior motive to everyone, whatever their place of life, and which would each time bring its own singular interpretation, but what else should be retained as a recommendation that is valid for the whole world? The year begins with contradictions, even oxymorons, with tensions between the urgent need for ecological transition for the good of the planet and aspirations for greater use of resources for the poorest countries, with the reaffirmed multipolarity of a world that is no longer reduced to conflict between two or three blocs but on which some major players, in technology, finance, culture... claim to exercise hegemonic influences, with a reduction in the number of people subject to the conditions of extreme poverty, but also an excessive spread of the fortunes of the so-called ultra-rich people or states, with the astonishing divergence between the meticulous concern for sharing and the social and environmental quality of the supporters of the social and solidarity based economy, and the brutality of major developments that are more than ever effective for the unbridled exploitation of the oceans, forests or soils, for hydrocarbons or minerals, and even industrial agriculture. Within the world system, cognitive dissonances are multiplying, and the avalanche of information, true, false or both, contributes to our disorientation.

3At our level, we can only make a very modest contribution to the improvement of the world, but it is important that everyone can feel part of the emergence of a collective intelligence. Geographers have the privilege of being able to claim to build a better understanding of the world, in the diversity of its places and challenges; they produce knowledge that allows those who live in it to see the world differently and, perhaps, to change it. A scientific journal contributes to the validation, dissemination and sharing of this knowledge. Cybergeo receives more than 120 unsolicited proposals for articles every year, 40% of which are published. All texts are carefully reviewed by at least two readers, and two to four successively improved versions circulate between authors and proofreaders before being put online. In 2018, among the 43 articles published, there were about twenty updates on subjects concerning France, but also about fifteen whose authors or subjects scour the world, from Algeria to Chile, Greece to Mozambique, Cameroon to Sweden, Belgium to China, Mexico to Italy or India to Canada... We wish you to find subject for an organized reflection on the world, and a great happiness of reading.

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References

Electronic reference

Denise Pumain, « The world in its challenges and contradictions », Cybergeo: European Journal of Geography [Online], Editorials, Online since 24 January 2019, connection on 16 April 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/cybergeo/31531

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About the author

Denise Pumain

CNRS-UMR Géographie-cités, France
Professeure émérite
pumain@parisgeo.cnrs.fr

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Copyright

CC-BY-4.0

The text only may be used under licence CC BY 4.0. All other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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