Paper short abstract:

Building on one case of erosion, I'll try to render the plurality of relations and voices shaping complex coastal processes. Anthropological insights can help in grasping the entanglements of large and fine dynamics, rising situated questions on temporalities, ecologies and cultural imaginaries.

Paper long abstract:

Sand : such a short word reflecting such a complex articulation, between geological, socio-ecological, economic, political and cultural processes.

A growing concern with sand arises in society debates at the global level and, since a few years, some calls alerting about severe sand loss are relayed by media and scientific journals. Beside general alarms and phenomena, anthropological observation and situated knowledges can help in grasping the entanglements of large and fine dynamics. At the same time, they can also rise specific questions concerning cultural imaginaries and seemingly irreconcilable temporalities.

Building on one case of coastal erosion taking place in a mediterranean archipelago (la Maddalena National Park, Sardinia), I'll try to render the plurality of relations and voices shaping coastal processes. Those are particularly complex ones, compising the interactions between posidonia oceanica meadows and dune systems, and multiple human started processes (from consequences of boat anchorages to water pollution, from daily massive visiting to preservationist closing).

How - and how slowly - is sand formed in specific contexts? Why are some white, sandy beaches much more desired than others? Which institutional and legal configurations are brought lo life in relation to the particular color of a microorganism, giving to sand a peculiar pink nuance? How are imaginaries and scientific knowledges involved in multi-scale economic and political struggles? Those and other questions can take shape from the observation of a surprising, polyphonic context, in which sand becomes the pivotal point of long-lasting socio-ecological processes.