PhD in Human Geography
Contact : romain.valadaud@ird.fr; +0630407786
Current research
My work focuses on the study of power relations governing agricultural water management in Nepal and Cambodia. In these two contexts, I study the interactions between natural elements, infrastructures and social relations that determine the distribution of surface water and groundwater. My research focuses in particular on the deployment of so-called "participatory" policies that characterise many hydrosocial territories. My fieldwork contributes to theoretical reflections that seek to integrate these different dimensions of water management within the concept of "device" (Fr. dispositif) derived from the philosophy of Michel Foucault. By practising political geography, I therefore attempt to develop a framework of thought that enables a better understanding of the complexity of the reconfiguration of social relations of power, through the prism of water.
Convinced of the benefits of transdisciplinary, open and inclusive research, I am also involved in organising citizen science activities alongside artists in the Montpellier area. These take the form of theatre workshops on the sensitive mapping of waterways or the writing of epistolary communications on the very same waterways.
Main activities
– Researcher at IRD Montpellier, member of UMR G-EAU
– CESAH associate researcher, Paris area
– Lecturer in the WATER master’s programme at the University of Sciences, Montpellier
– Lecturer in the Water and Land master’s programme at Sup Agro Montpellier
Keywords
irrigation
political rationality
association of irrigators
power
hydrosociality
socio-technical
Publications
Aubriot O, Valadaud R. (2024) "Canaux, pompes et forages. La crise de l’irrigation en Asie du Sud", La Vie des idées, 9 January 2024. URL
Aubriot O, Valadaud R : Editeurs. (2023). L’eau en Asie du Sud, Numéro Spécial d’Etudes Rurales (211). URL.
Valadaud R, Mahato S. (2023) "Beyond forest management: the politics of user groups in Chitwan", Studies in Nepali History and Society 28 (1). URL.
Valadaud R. (2023). "La Suisse des Hobbits", in Klauser et al. Autour de la Suisse en 30 lieux inattendus, Helvetiq. URL.
Valadaud R. (2023). "The reproduction of hydrosocial domination: water user association membership in the eastern Tarai", European Bulletin of Himalayan Research (60). URL
Valadaud R, Gauthey J, Soyer M, Lyser S, Cazals C, (2022). "Les médecins et les pharmaciens de ville peuvent-ils contribuer à la réduction à la source des résidus médicamenteux ? Une enquête sociologique auprès de ces professionnels de santé sur le territoire du bassin d’Arcachon en France". Environnement, Risques & Santé (2). URL
Valadaud R, Aubriot O, (2021), "Quand les infrastructures nous racontent les tensions politiques". ASAinfo, No.74. URL
Valadaud R, Schoepfer I, (2021). "L’imaginaire en géographie : un voyage entre science et littérature". GéoAgenda 2021(4). URL
Valadaud R, Aubriot O, (2019). "Dialectiques hydrosociales à l’épreuve. Décrypter la dimension politique d’objets techniques utilisés pour l’irrigation au Népal", Développement durable et territoires,Vol.10, No.3. URL
Cazals C, Lyser S, Valadaud R, (2019). "REMPAR – Livrable 4.3. Micropolluants : des pratiques des professionnels de santé aux leviers d’action possibles : une étude appliquée au Bassin d’Arcachon". URL
Candau M., Valadaud R., Aubriot O. (2015). "Construction de la plaine rizicole du Népal : sous le prisme de la gestion de l’eau et des processus de territorialisation dans le Sunsari". L’Espace géographique, 44(2), 160–173.
Papers
2023 – “Forest user groups and water user associations: the politics of participatory management of natural resources in Nepal”. Conference “Forest-Water-Energy Interdisciplinary Workshop”, organised by the Paris School of Economics (PSE).
2022 – "Imprévus et Impensés des instruments de gouvernement de l’eau : cas d’étude sur les associations d’usagers de l’irrigation en Asie du Sud". Conference "Des eaux et des imprévus : perspectives croisées sur les gouvernements des eaux douces", organised by Science Po Toulouse.
2021 – "Quand les canaux d’irrigation font de la politique". Ma Thèse en 180 secondes (MT180), Doctoriales de l’eau 2021, Université de Châteauroux.
2020 – "L’or bleu broie du noir". Café Scientifique at Fribourg University.
2020 – "The Politics of Irrigation in Nepal". Conference organised by the Department of Geosciences at Fribourg University.
2019 – "Les Associations d’Irrigants dans le Téraï népalais : transformation ou reproduction sociale? Récit phénoménologique des jeux de pouvoirs : le cas du système d’irrigation de Sunsari-Morang". Festival du Népal, Paris.
2019 – "Patronage and Participation: Are Water User Associations of large-scale irrigation systems in the Taraï a tool for social change or social reproduction?". New Directions in Himalayan Studies, University of Berkeley (USA).
2017 – "PIM through the lenses of Hydro-social Cycle and Socio-technical Anthropology: an attempt to understand the politicization of WUAs in Nepal’s Eastern Tarai". 16th conference of the International Network for Participatory Irrigation Management – Nepal (INPIM-N) "Redefining Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) in the Present Context", Kathmandu
2016 – "Micropolluants des eaux urbaines". Workshop organised by the Office Français de la Biodiversité, Paris