Defence of thesis - Eleni Demetriou: "Indivisible objects for irreparable debts: the constitution of a symbolic economy through the requalification of "monumental values"".

Tuesday 10 June 2025 | from 2pm | EPS (room 003)

We are pleased to inform you that the thesis defence ofEleni Demetriouentitled Des objets indivisibles pour des dettes irréparables: la constitution d'une économie symbolique par la requalification des "valeurs monumentales"" (Indivisible objects for irreparable debts: the constitution of a symbolic economy through the requalification of "monumental values").will be held on Tuesday 10 June 2025, from 2pm, at the Espace Philippe Séguin, room 003.

Summary:

Created outside city walls in the first half of the 19th century, the First Cemetery of Athens and the Saint-Pierre Cemetery in Aix-en-Provence were the first contemporary cemeteries in their respective cities. Following several extensions to the cemeteries and towns, they were incorporated into the urban fabric. A number of the burials that make up their morphology have disappeared in the course of redevelopment operations. The issue of regulating their "aesthetics" has arisen at various points in their history, giving rise to debates that link aesthetics with history and politics. These cemeteries are treated either as "landscapes", "archaeological sites" or "open-air museums".

These multiple treatments reveal the constitution of a symbolic economy of requalification, which updates different visions of the history of the spaces and the social and professional groups concerned. This symbolic economy proceeds through more or less instituted tests, having material and symbolic effects on the artefacts marked as remarkable as well as on the most ordinary artefacts. By following the categories of judgement of these actors (trained mainly in archaeology, history and architecture), this thesis reconstructs debates about the value of artefacts and the resources of legitimisation that are produced along the way. A heteronomous space is created at the intersection of different fields (heritage, intellectual, political) and markets (funerary, conservation, art, tourism).

In order to grasp this emerging and complex object, the thesis reconstructs the different degrees of crystallisation of the category of 'funerary heritage' by combining the sociology of knowledge and value with contributions from history, social anthropology and philosophy. The results are empirical (1) and metatheoretical (2). Interviews and observations are placed in perspective with a large heterogeneous corpus of texts from which the thesis reconstructs various indicators of the symbolic economy and puts forward the concept of personalistic requalification (1). The back and forth between the analytical materials and the literature also gave rise to a metatheoretical reflection on the concepts of sociological analysis of enhancement and the homoarchical presupposition they may convey. This revealed a sociological unthought that led to the proposal of alternative analytical tools, based on the concept of social heterarchy (2).

Key words : funerary heritage; multi-level comparison; symbolic economy; personalistic requalification; social heterarchy.

Composition of the jury :

• Elisabeth ANSTETTCNRS Research Director, Aix-Marseille University, ADES (Chair of the Jury)
• Olivier CHADOINUniversity Professor, ENSAPBx, PAVE (Rapporteur)
• Arnaud ESQUERRECNRS Research Director, EHESS, IRIS (Rapporteur)
• Sylvia GIRELUniversity Professor, Aix-Marseille University, MESOPOLHIS (Thesis supervisor)
• Constance DE GOURCYProfessor HDR, Aix-Marseille University, MESOPOLHIS (thesis co-supervisor)
• Paul SABOURINAssociate Professor, Université de Montréal (Examiner)

Hybrid format: more information to come.