This conference is part of a larger research project within the Federation FE2C (Contemporary Civilization), whose theme 2017-2022 Partitions and sharing: cultural, territorial and geopolitical aspects brings together the expertise of colleagues from the universities of La Rochelle, Limoges, Orleans and Poitiers. It also draws on the research
priorities defined by the CRHIA (Center for Research in International and Atlantic History) regarding Societies, Cultures and Exchanges in the Americas and Asia-Pacific region, as well as research activities at Bordeaux Montaigne University (notably the new Silk Roads), not to mention the societal challenges on which La Rochelle University is positioned, LUDI (coastal, urban, sustainable and intelligent). Beyond a study of the migration between two geographical zones, the interest of the conference resides in the questioning of our a priori,
such as the preexistence of a point A (geographical, cultural) and a point B , with the movement between these two points considered as secondary, but (according to Thomas Nail, The Figure of the Migrant), it is the movement itself that is at the origin of the points A and B; in other words movement is both the product and producer of social evolution and creation of spaces. Much is at stake when placing movement at the center of our perspectives. Questions about the notion of "pure" culture advocated by nationalist political parties, the migrant seen as "intruder," the changes in societies that are frightening as, for example, the problems related to the environment and the growing role of artificial intelligence - all these a priori, to give only a few examples, regarding cultural and social identity can be discussed. No temporal, geographical or disciplinary constraint is imposed, other than to highlight the dynamic movement which is at the origin of social mutations within and between these coastal and urban spaces.