Argument ‘Nature/Culture’

Revisiting with the nature/culture debate today is neither peripheral nor momentary—it remains a pressing and enduring intellectual challenge. In contrast, it is a crucial matter particularly at the theoretical and conceptual level. Not only is it pertinent, it is also significant in terms of its pragmatic scope, and especially, in connection to the ecological, social, scientific and technological challenges it poses, and all the ethical issues it generates. These challenges are causing chaos in our world and imposing, in turn, the reconsideration of the complex relationships between Man and his environment. 

No need to remind of the fact that such an issue has long occupied centre stage in human thought, notably as part of debates on the possible link between nature and culture, themselves determined (conditioned) by the way in which each of these terms is conceived.   The emergence of different currents of thought such as naturalism, culturalism, ethnoecology, ethnoscience, ethno-ethology, symmetrical anthropology, even the Western objectification of sciences have stirred many discussions.

Indeed, the conception that humans have of nature often defines their connection to culture. Throughout history, the two notions have evolved in a joint and autonomous manner to the point that, nowadays, the word culture means both artistic and literary production; its symbolic expression, as well as all social practices and their symbolic systems specific to a society. The reflection around the concept of Nature does not escape this evolution either. Considered in Antiquity first as 'physis', an active whole in the service of being, nature then saw human thought recognize its own dignity.

Augustin Berque (2014) then considers it to be a « cultural translation » thus opening the debate on nature as a social construct. Indeed, throughout history, the notion of 'nature' has embraced a symbolic charge and semiological variable that has gradually stripped it of its divine contents, particularly in monotheistic religions, then of its supernatural attributes in modern Western scientific thought.

In this sense, the Arab-Muslim tradition has developed, since the medieval era, profound reflections on human nature and its relationship to the social and physical environment.  In this regard, Ibn Khaldoun, in his Muqaddima, to cite only one thinker among others, shows that Man is the product of material, climatic, and collective conditions in which he evolves and acts.

This Khaldounian thought anticipates issues taken up much later by contemporary human and social sciences: the human being cannot be perceived, in this primary sociological perspective, outside a relational system where nature and culture intermingle.

It is within this intellectual current that that Edgar Morin’s notion of complexity is situated, as developed in his major works, notably in Le Paradigme perdu (1973) and La Méthode (1977-2004).

For this philosopher and sociologist, Man is a bio-cultural being, intimately weaving together nature and culture. He criticises the rigid separation inherited from modernity between these two concepts advocating for a transdisciplinary approach that moves beyond a fragmented view of the human and instead embraces the biological, symbolic, social and environmental dimensions in order to rethink our relationship with the world. In a similar vein, contemporary scholars such as Philippe Descola (in Par-delà nature et culture  [Beyond Nature and Culture], 2005) and Bruno Latour (in Nous n’avons jamais été modernes  [We Have Never Been Modern], 1991) offer valuable insights for reimagining the relationship between nature and culture.   One of Descola’s central arguments is that the separation between nature and culture is a construction specific to Western modernity, whereas multiple cosmologies exist that diverge from this naturalistic worldview. 

In light of these reflections, might we not question whether the persistence of the nature-culture divide perhaps reveals perhaps an obsolete worldview, one that overlooks the complex interconnections between humans, the living world, and the social sphere?

In these times of unprecedented and complex crises, wars, intolerance, human rights violations, institutional decline (Dubet, 2002), climate change, disruptive transformations related to information and communication technologies, of globalization and ecological emergency, the conceptual boundaries, in all fields and everywhere in the world, are constantly being moved.

New permeabilities are created or at least are revealed any time, thus moving the boundaries of social spaces, practices and disciplines creating contexts of complex and historical struggles between "fields" (Bourdieu, 1976), "systems" (Luhmann, 1982) or "sectors" (Dobry, 1986). Since Kant (18th century), philosophical thought has questioned the absolute foundations to replace them with the logic of "everything is relation", thus questioning the limits between concepts and relativizing all certainties. It stands to reason that the digital revolution - and more particularly the challenges posed by artificial intelligence – along with the endangerment of the two concepts, as articulated by Serge Moscovici’s notion of the "human-nature continuum" (1968), complicates our understanding of the binary at stake. 

Indeed, digital is claimed as culture in companies, universities, administrations, the media, etc., but it is also feared for its disruptive impacts on cultural specificities, and even on the processes of creating artistic and cultural works.

The University is no exception to this impact, both in terms of tools, paradigms and knowledge production processes, as well as on the urgency of ethical framing regarding the development of AI! That is why the University of Manouba invites teachers-researchers, post-doctoral students, PhD students and students to take part in the exchange of ideas on the links between Nature, Culture and the artificial.

The call is open to all researchers to share the results of their most advanced research, to transcend geographical, historical, disciplinary and institutional barriers, and to enrich the debate between researchers, decision-makers and civil society, from North to South.  

The Nature-Culture dyad is not exempt from the dynamic processes of boundary construction/deconstruction, nor from the interrogation of dualism itself, particularly as approached through multi, inter and transdisciplinary lenses. If the notion of Culture is extended in certain contexts to animals, the concept of Nature, human relationships and even the universal! Do we not use the word ‘naturalization’ to refer to the administrative act of granting a new nationality just as we use the term ‘cultivation’ to describe the sowing and tending of fields?   Many poets and writers have attributed culture to elements of nature; Whether it is the floral poetry of Al-Sanawbari in the tenth century or contemporary Romantic poetry, Nature is both the object and the subject of culture.

The definition of the concept of Culture by the anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor (1871), who defines it as a complex whole that includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, mores and other abilities acquired by humans, then everything becomes culture. Each human action or manifestation carries within it "diverse knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs and diverse capacities".  Indeed, 'nature' has become 'culture', both in the world of sports and physical activity, through body culture, as well as in the world of business, and all industrial and economic activities, through the requirement of a culture of protection of resources and the environment.

Scientific advances, particularly the recent discoveries in epigenetics, cast new light on the work of Jean Rostand, who, in his collected writings 'Pensées d'un biologiste', rejected the notion of heritability. In her 2019 book ‘Take back Control of your genes’, Isabelle Mansuy explains how the life experiences of individuals—and even those of their ancestors—can influence gene expression.Far from the realm of fiction, it has been scientifically established that the epigenome— the collection of molecular markers within a cell, accumulated over time through physical and mental interactions—plays a crucial role in regulating this genetic expression, even though genes themselves account for only 1 to 3 percent of the genome.  Unfortunately, the exchanges around these new discoveries remain limited to circles of disciplinary experts in experimental and "hard" sciences, and even if researchers in the humanities are involved, they often tend to rely on literature reviews that are insufficiently contextualized. More than ever, the imperative for genuine interdisciplinarity and the cultivation of locally grounded production is paramount.   These boundaries, constructed in a differentiated way and located in their respective contexts and societies, are the focus of the 12th edition of the international, interdisciplinary symposium of the University of Manouba, dedicated this year to the “Nature-Culture” binomial.

The interactions during the conferences, communication sessions, round tables, master classes, workshops and challenges proposed as part of the symposium will explore innovative ways to strengthen the contribution of the University to the transformation of society.

Building upon the previous initiatives, this call offers a renewed opportunity from the University of Manouba to converge diverse perspectives, methodologies, and thematic areas. It paves the way for innovative knowledge production and dissemination across multiple thematic domains, thereby granting participants a stimulating space for dialogue, critical reflection, and the exchange of ideas.

Five axes are proposed, for the submission of contributions:

● Plurality of the foundations of Nature/Culture links

● Nature and Culture : knowledge circulation and sustainability

● Living, Nature and interdisciplinary knowledge

● New Cultures and literary, artistic and audiovisual practices 

● Nature, Culture and ethical issues in contemporary societies

Call for papers ‘Nature/Culture’

The 12th University of La Manouba interdisciplinary

Symposium is scheduled from 12 to 14 November, 2025. Similar to the previous sessions, 3 days of fruitful academic exchanges will be hosted by the University of Manouba on its Campus where 15 higher education and research institutions are located. The event will allow the exchange of ideas, views and

the showcasing of new research and knowledge production around the theme of Nature/Culture.

Five axes are proposed, for the submission of contributions:

• Plurality of the foundations of Nature/Culture links

• Nature and Culture : knowledge circulation and sustainability

• Living, Nature and interdisciplinary knowledge

• New Cultures and Literary, artistic and audiovisual practices 

• Nature, Culture and ethical issues in contemporary societies

Who can apply?

We invite proposals that may cover mono-, multi-, inter-or transdisciplinary academic fields in the humanities and social sciences, experimental sciences, hard sciences or any other input that may contribute to shedding light on the contemporary or historical dialectics between Nature and Culture.  We equally encourage the participation of students, socio-economic stakeholders and decision-makers, as well as inter-institutional collaboration.

Which format?

Both early career and established academics, full time researchers, and doctoral students from Manouba University as well as other Tunisian and international universities, are invited to submit proposals for presentations (for oral communications or posters), round tables (panels discussions), doctoral seminars, workshops or master classes, on issues related to the Symposium’s theme. The selected proposals and activities will be scheduled in one of the symposium sessions, over the 3 days. The final program will be made available in due course.

How to apply?

Proposals

must be submitted online to the symposium's scientific committee before July

15, 2025, by completing the form (click here). It is important to note that the

scientific committee will select some papers in order to publish them  in

a special issue of the UMA’s academic journal Universitas.  

Schedule

×        August 15, closing date for contribution proposals

       ×         August 30, 2025, response from the scientific committee

×        November 12-14, 2025: Symposium schedule ready

×        November 12-20, 2025: Contact details of participants selected to contribute to the special issue of Universitas

×        December 15, deadline for submitting full articles for selected papers

×        January 30, 2026: Submission of corrections suggested by reviewers

×        February 28, 2026: Deadline for submission of revised versions of articles

×        May 2026: Publication of the special issue of Universitas

Formalities

The conference is open free of charge to participants and the general public. Travel and accommodation are the responsibility of the participants.

Instructions for presentation abstracts

Papers proposed for the UMA symposium must comply with the following guidelines:

• Title 

• 5 keywords

• List of authors/contributors

• 500-word

• abstract

•  Language: Arabic, French, Spanish or English 

• 12-point font

• To be included in the application form

Instructions for concept notes for roundtables, masterclasses, and practical workshops

• Type of proposed event: roundtable, masterclass, or practical workshop 

• Title 

• Objective

• 500-word  description     

• List of contributors/participants

• To be included in the application form

For further information, please contact the organizing committee at the symposium address symposium.manouba@uma.tn

•  August 15, closing date for contribution proposals

• August 30, 2025, response from the scientific committee

• November 12-14, 2025: Symposium schedule ready

• November 12-20, 2025: Contact details of participants selected to contribute to the special issue of the academic Manouba University revue Universitas

•   December 15, deadline for submitting full articles for selected papers

•  January 30, 2026: Submission of corrections suggested by reviewers

•  February 28, 2026: Deadline for submission of revised versions of articles

• May 2026: Publication of the special issue of Universitas