René Dumont (March 13, 1904 – June 18, 2001) was a French engineer in

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

, a sociologist, and an environmental

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Biography

Dumont was born in

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

, in the north of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. His father was a professor in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and his grandfather was a farmer. He graduated from the INA P-G, as an engineer in

. First sent to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

(1929) at the end of his studies, he was disgusted by

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

and returned to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to spend most of his career as a professor of agricultural sciences (1933–74). René Dumont started his career as a promoter of the use of chemical fertilizers and mechanisation. He wrote articles in ''La Terre Française'' ( Pétainist weekly journal), favoring agricultural corporatism. However, he was one of the first to denounce damages from the

Green Revolution The Green Revolution, also known as the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period of technology transfer initiatives that saw greatly increased crop yields and agricultural production. These changes in agriculture began in developed countrie ...

("Révolution Verte") and to fight agricultural productivism. He was an expert with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

, and wrote about 30 books. He traveled widely and had a good understanding of farming issues in underdeveloped countries. He advocated: *

demographic Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...

control * energy savings * international cooperation to help poor nations * soil quality preservation and remediation He considered development not to be so much a question of money,

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

, or seeds, but a careful balance of the three. He advocated relations between humans and their fields that relied foremost on relations between humans themselves, social relationships being the basis for proper agricultural and industrial development. Finally, he believed the basis for good social relationships between humans was good relationships between men and women, thus arguing demographic control relied on female emancipation. Ahead of his time, the most famous French agronomist, well known for his red-pullover, surprised French people by showing on TV an

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

and a glass of water, telling them how precious these natural resources were, and predicting the future price of

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

. Dumont was one of the first to explain the consequences of what was to be called

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

demographic explosion Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...

, productivism,

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

, shantytowns, malnutrition, rift between northern and southern countries. He was also one of the first to use the term "développement durable" (

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

). He ran for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

in 1974 as the first ecologist candidate, and won 1.32% of the votes. His campaign director was

Brice Lalonde Brice Lalonde (; born 10 February 1946) is a former green party leader in France, who ran for President of France in the Presidential elections, 1981. In 1988 he was named Minister of the Environment, and in 1990 founded the green Ecology Gener ...

. That election opened the way to political ecology. The French political ecology was founded by Dumont and is under-developed countries oriented, against war, against

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and for solidarity. Some consider it not sufficiently rooted in

deep ecology Deep ecology is an environmental philosophy that promotes the inherent worth of all living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, and the restructuring of modern human societies in accordance with such ideas. Deep ecolo ...

. Dumont is considered to be the forefather of the

French Green Party French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. In a statement, France's Green Party called Dumont "the man who made it possible to bring environmental policies in a direct and natural manner into the political world". He wrote a best-selling book, ''L’Afrique noire est mal partie'' (1962). Dumont was a founding member of

ATTAC The Association pour la Taxation des Transactions financières et pour l'Action Citoyenne (''Association for the Taxation of financial Transactions and Citizen's Action'', ATTAC) is an activist organisation originally created to promote the e ...

Writings (selection)

*''Cuba, Socialism and Development'', Grove Press, 1970 *''Cuba, ¿es socialista?'' Editorial Tiempo Nuevo S.A., Venezuela, 1970 *''Voyages en France d'un agronome'', Nouv. éd. rev. et augm., Paris: Génin, 1956 *''Révolution dans les campagnes chinoises'', Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1957 *''Terres vivantes'', Paris: Plon, 1961. English translation ''Lands Alive'', London: Merlin Press, 1964 *''L’Afrique noire est mal partie'', 1962. English translation ''False Start in Africa'', New York: Praeger, 1966; London: Earthscan, 1988. *''Nous allons à la famine'', English translation ''The Hungry Future'', New York: Praeger, 1969 *''Types of Rural Economy: Studies in World Agriculture'', London: Methuen, 1970 *''Notes sur les implications sociales de la "révolution verte" dans quelques pays d'Afrique'', Genève, 1971 *''La campagne de René Dumont et du mouvement écologique: naissance de l'écologie politique; déclarations, interviews, tracts, manifestes, articles, rapports, sondages, récits et nombreux autres textes'', Paris: Pauvert, 1974 *''l'Utopie ou la Mort'', 1973. English translation ''Utopia or Else ...'', Universe Pub, 1975 *''Agronome de la faim'', Paris: Laffont, 1974 *''Chine, la révolution culturale'', Paris: Seuil, 1976 * ''L'Afrique étranglée'', 1980, Nouv. éd., rev., corr. et mis à jour: Paris: Seuil, 1982. English translation ''Stranglehold on Africa'', London: Deutsch, 1983 *(with Nicholas Cohen), ''The Growth of Hunger: a new politics of agriculture'', London: Boyars, 1980 - This book is based on René Dumont's ideas as contained in the 1975 publication ''La croissance de la famine''. *''Finis Les Lendemains Qui Chantent'' ** T.1 : Albanie, Pologne, Nicaragua, Paris: Seuil, 1983 ** T.2 : Surpeuplée, Totalitaire, La Cnine Decollectivise, Paris: Seuil, 1984 ** T.3 : Bangladesh-Nepal, "L'Aide" Contre Le développement, Paris: Seuil, 1985 * ''Pour l'Afrique, j'accuse: le journal d'un agronome au Sahel en voie de destruction'', Paris: Plon, 1986 * ''Un monde intolérable: le libéralisme en question'', Paris: Seuil, 1988 * ''Démocratie pour l'Afrique: la longue marche de l'Afrique noire vers la liberté'', Paris: Seuil, 1991 *''La culture du riz dans le delta du Tonkin'', Paris: Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1995

Secondary literature

* J.-P. Besset, ''René Dumont, une vie saisie par l’écologie'', Paris: Stock, 1992 * Marc Dufumier (dir.), ''Un agronome dans son siècle. Actualité de René Dumont'', Association pour la création de la Fondation René Dumont/Éditions Karthala/INA P-G, coll. « Hommes et Sociétés », Paris, 2002 * « René Dumont, un agronome d'exception » in: ''Ingénieurs de la vie : la revue des ingénieurs de l'INA P-G'', Mazarine, Paris, 2005 * ''René Dumont, citoyen de la planète Terre'', a documentary by Bernard Baissat, co-production La Lanterne/France 3, 105 minutes, 199
more information

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dumont, Rene 1904 births 2001 deaths French sociologists Environmental sociologists People from Cambrai Food and Agriculture Organization officials The Greens (France) politicians French male writers French officials of the United Nations 20th-century French male writers Candidates in the 1974 French presidential election

Biography

Writings (selection)

Secondary literature

See also

References