Rewilding and Landownership: a Mutually Transformative Relationship

Rewilding can be defined as the process of returning land to a state of non productivity, thereby allowing nature to "regain its rights". It mobilises networks of nature conservation activists and practitioners, who view this proposal as a transformative tool with the potential to not only protect biodiversity, but also to catalyse social transformation (Gammon, 2018). This transformation is defined by the acceptance of a relationship with an autonomous and beyond human control environment. The prevailing practice of rewilding is predicated on a departure from the commodification of nature and the establishment of a more dualistic relationship with the environment, characterised by radical otherness. The notion of temporality is another pivotal aspect of rewilding, as it aims to restore a bygone state of ecosystems and ensure its preservation within a legal framework over an extended period (De Vroey, 2023; Esposito & Becker, 2023). This shift prompts a re-evaluation of conventional notions of private property, as articulated in Article 544 of the French Civil Code, which stipulates the 'right to enjoy and dispose of things in the most absolute manner.' The philosopher Baptiste Morizot posits that private property stands as the closest embodiment of eternity in the Western world (Morizot, 2020). Various organisations, including ASPAS in France, are undertaking initiatives to transform this right into a right to absolute protection. The concept of rewilding is also gaining traction among landowners, who perceive it as a potential novel management strategy, with the potential to minimise the necessity for intervention. In the interviews I conducted, landowner representatives identified disadvantages related to insurance and representation, citing the tendency of this group to be resistant an idea that has been characterised as radical and militant. Rewilding also constitutes a component of an imaginary politics of desirable futures projected in the lands (Castoriadis, 2021). The objective of this paper is twofold: firstly, to understand whether and how certain groups can change the relationship with the land in an area by drawing on imaginary representations; and secondly, to determine the extent to which rewilding can be transformative in these two contexts: does it end up being integrated into more traditional territorial policies, or does it have to negotiate with anti-past practices to the point where it loses its transformative scope? The research will be grounded in a political ethnography, complemented by targeted interviews conducted over the past three years with key actors in France and Belgium: one in the Drome region of France and the other in the Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse National Park in Belgium. Castoriadis, C. (2021). L’Institution imaginaire de la société. Seuil. De Vroey, L. (2023). Back to the Future : Retrospectivity, Recovery, and Nostalgia in Rewilding. Environmental Ethics, 45(4), 359‑380. Esposito, F., & Becker, T. (2023). The Time of Politics, the Politics of Time, and Politicized Time : An Introduction to Chronopolitics. Gammon, A. R. (2018). The Many Meanings of Rewilding : An Introduction and the Case for a Broad Conceptualisation. Environmental Values, 27(4), 331‑350. Morizot, B. (2020). Raviver les braises du vivant : Un front commun. Actes Sud.