AAC in english

Comparative views on changes in viticulture

and winemaking sectors and actors

23-24-25 january 2019   |   Reims – France

[in Pdf]

This symposium examines the profound changes in the viticulture and winemaking industries since the end of the 1950s. It will study three dimensions of these transformations: shared action, actors’ practices, and innovation. Contributions should show how these evolutions spread through and influence the world of viticulture and winemaking, how different levels of actors adopt them, and their economic and/or social consequences.

The aim will be to review historical changes in the viticulture and winemaking professions and to analyse current changes to activities, knowledge and skills, and representations of professions and their consequences on individual and collective actors. How do operators work together, and on what scale? Do they use initial or in-service education, and how? Do they use a wide range of experts? How should we analyse the interactions, interrelationships, and network development between this wide range of actors and levels of action? What economic and social challenges are faced by the sectors and firms concerned?

Different quality standards, environmentally friendly practices, terroir boundaries, labels and other forms of standards all increase the regulation of the sector and modify the interactions between grape production and winemaking and commercialisation. They also influence representation and practice in the professions linked to viticulture and winemaking. They have consequences for both work and its organisation, and on product value and communication. How do these efforts to improve the wine to satisfy the needs of a clientele that is evolving socially and economically lead actors to implement particular communication strategies for products sold in local, national and international markets?

Proposed communications can study different winemaking regions in France, Europe or the rest of the world (perhaps with comparative dimension) and will cover one of the following three themes:

Theme 1: Regulation, professional relations

This first theme covers the institutions that characterise professional representations in the viticulture and winemaking industry, their leaders and their members. What changes have they undergone? How do these federations and unions of independent winemakers, private companies, cooperatives, or employees organise themselves and act together? What role do these multiple collective structures play in the economic performance of the firms and sectors they represent?

The problem tackled will be the tension between the heterogeneity of the actors represented and the practices of representation. From the “small winemaker” to major firms, from “dual job-holders” to employees and service providers, how is their representation organised by federations or unions? How do these organisations convey a homogenous image of a deeply fragmented sector? Who are these representatives? How are they different from those they represent? What lines of tension appear in this structural heterogeneity? What types of solidarity and/or alliances exist in this landscape? What exchange procedures appear within the winegrowers’ federation between different types of actors?

Contributions will investigate the individuals who make up these collectives: the trajectories and careers of the members or the leaders. Who were they initially and/or who are they today? What roles do they play? What socialisation spaces apart from the winegrowers’ federation forge their commitments (school, sports, cultural activities, etc.)? Contributions will also cover the collectives: what is their internal balance of power? What challenges do they face? How do they negotiate with the State and with other actors? What links do winegrowers’ federations maintain with their regions? How do they take account of changing economic and social challenges, and what are the consequences for their organisation and for the actors and professions they represent?

Theme 2: Actors, strategies, activities, practices, typologies

This second theme, covering players in the viticulture and winemaking sectors, studies the evolution of practices and representations of the winegrowing profession, including winemakers and other types of operators that make up the sector. An analysis of the work and its organisation could compare generational, gender, and relational effects within families of winemakers and viticulture/winemaking firms. We will also examine the economic impact of the different existing forms of work organisation.

The division of work between vineyard and winemaking should be highlighted with regard to the reality of viticulture/winemaking firms. Are new types of work organisation appearing? How is the work divided between vineyard and winemaking? How are the different tasks divided up? What typologies can we establish of existing actors? Can we highlight the emergence of new actors, new knowledge or new skills? What business models or categories of operator seem best suited to recent and future changes in the wine economy and consumer expectations?

The analyses will show the reality of how expertise is produced in the viticulture/winemaking world. Who epitomises expertise in the production process from vineyard to wine? How are consulting services offered (place and role of actors: technical, agronomic, or oenological advisors, experts in communication and marketing)? How can we assess their business model? What is their impact on the traditional players making up the viticulture/winemaking sector? Proposals might for example highlight new configurations of services within and between viticulture/winemaking firms (links between professionals and scientific research; interactions between individual players and industry federations; new forms of non-profit organisation, professional networks, etc.)

Theme 3: Innovation in techniques, organisations, products, and communication

Wine is a product that is constantly evolving under the influence of advances in viticulture and oenology. The purpose of this third theme is to understand how, at different times, technical innovations were incorporated in viticulture/winemaking, and how the different priorities given to the different sectors revealed different visions of the product.   Beyond the unequal advances made in agriculture and the industry, changing circumstances such as the increasing importance of ecology in the mind of the consumer and the desire for more authentic products may have influenced this balance. Other factors, such as the involvement of large groups in winemaking regions, and the adoption of commercial strategies focusing on the brand more than on the wine appellation may also have played a role.

In addition, contributors may examine the economic and/or social impact of organisational innovation on the technical innovations that professionals use to collect information, assemble resources, and coordinate research efforts. Can they be used to publicise and promote research work to professionals? What are the specific features of viticulture and winemaking with regard to innovation? What influence have these innovations (in viticulture, winemaking or organisations,) had on the product itself, on the communication around the product, or on the place given to the consumer before and/or after production?

Advice to authors

This symposium has been organised for academic researchers particularly in Social and Human Sciences (economics, management, history, sociology, etc.) but also in disciplines such as biology and oenology. Proposals from professionals in the viticulture/winemaking sector who wish to analyse and understand the evolution of their field will also be welcome. The purpose of the symposium, beyond its specific scientific concerns, is to bring together all concerned actors – researchers and professionals – to discuss these topics.

The event will be followed by a publication.

 

Submission procedure

Proposed communications, in French, in English or in Spanish, must include:

  • A provisional title,
  • An abstract of approximately 2 500 characters (including spaces), detailing the literature and empirical methodology chosen, the field studied, and the principal questions covered
  • Indication of which theme the communication covers
  • a bibliography (5 references at most),
  • 5 keywords at most,
  • A brief biographical presentation of the author with bibliography (surname, first name, contact details, position, university and research laboratory, 2-3 publications)

And should be sent by 1 June 2018 to :   colloqueunivigne2019@gmail.com

 

Timetable

  • Call for communications: 14 March 2018
  • Deadline for proposals: 1 June 2018
  • Notification to authors: 28 June 2018
  • Programme publication: September 2018
  • Symposium: 23-25 January 2019
  • Delivery of manuscripts for review before publication: 22 March 2019 

 

Registration fees

  FEE SERVICE
Full fee € 120 – Programme

– Receptions and coffee breaks

– Lunch (2 jours)

– Gala evening

– Publication of the proceedings

Reduced fee

Students, PhD students, URCA staff

€ 90
Free of charge

Students, PhD students, URCA staff

0 € –   – Programme

–   – Receptions and coffee breaks

Location

All three days of the symposium – Wednesday 23, Thursday 24 and Friday 25 January 2019 – will take place in Reims.

Scientific coordination:

Théodore Georgopoulos, Law, URCA

Aloïs Kanyinda, Economics, NEOMA Business School

Emmanuelle Leclercq, Sociology, URCA,

Aurélie Melin, Ethnography, Villa Bissinger

Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze, Economics, URCA,

Ariel Sévilla, Sociology, URCA

Yves Tesson, History,

Benoît Verdier, Information and Communication Science, URCA

Scientific committee:

Jean-Jacques Boutaud, Information and Communication Science, UBFC

Theodore Georgopoulos, Law, URCA

Aloïs Kanyinda, Economics, NEOMA

Emmanuelle Leclercq, Sociology, URCA

Richard Marchal, Oenology, URCA

Aurélie Melin, Ethnology, Villa Bissinger

Guillermo Neiman, Sociology, Ceil – Conicet, Argentina

Jocelyne Perard, Geography, UNESCO Chair “Wine Culture & Traditions,” UFBC

Jean-Robert Pitte, Geography, Institut de France

Roberto Daniel Pizzolatto, Agronomy, INTA, Argentina,

Aurélie Ringeval-Deluze, Economics, URCA

Ariel Sevilla, Sociology, URCA

Yves Tesson, History

Benoît Verdier, Information and Communication Science, URCA

Serge Wolikow, History, UBFC

 

  

Symposium supported by UNESCO Chair “Culture & Traditions of Wines”