“The beginning of the twenty-first century has seen the rise of a whole nebula of commitments combining concern for the living world, criticism of the logic of commodification, the quest for autonomy and identification with places” (Tournadre, Sociologie 15:65–81, 2024). (In France, the opposition to various developments and projects are backed by political structures and associations on the one hand, and more informal movements on the other. But it is unclear how effective the mechanisms for raising ecological awareness are at changing the current political structures.) Water retention basins in rural areas for agricultural purposes, construction of motorway stretches, plans for marinas on the coast, building and development of golf courses and plans to build wave pools for surfing are just some of the wide range of facilities that, while not unprecedented in France, crystallise economic, tourist, social, partisan and ideological viewpoints. But perhaps even more than these, the environmental aspect seems to be mobilised even more, due to the image of surfing conveyed in French society, a practice characterised by numerous spontaneous representations (Guibert in The worlds of surfing. Historical transformations, social trajectories, technological bifurcations. Bordeaux: Editions MSHA, p. 282, 2020.). Surfing and the practice of surfing are only what individuals make of them. Indeed, surfing has no nature, it has no essence: it is the product of long cosmopolitan, historical and social processes. Surfing could be viewed as a non-organized ‘leisure’ activity, a competitive professional sport, a non-professional sport, a ‘way of life’, a beach game, an economic activity, a counter-cultural activity, or a specific and dedicated relationship with ‘nature’, (the list is obviously not exhaustive). Surfing can be all these things at once. In the light of our conceptual systems, which are in part our own social representations, each of us sees surfing as having one or more of these associations of ideas.

“The beginning of the twenty-first century has seen the rise of a whole nebula of commitments combining concern for the living world, criticism of the logic of commodification, the quest for autonomy and identification with places” (Tournadre, Sociologie 15:65–81, 2024). (In France, the opposition to various developments and projects are backed by political structures and associations on the one hand, and more informal movements on the other. But it is unclear how effective the mechanisms for raising ecological awareness are at changing the current political structures.) Water retention basins in rural areas for agricultural purposes, construction of motorway stretches, plans for marinas on the coast, building and development of golf courses and plans to build wave pools for surfing are just some of the wide range of facilities that, while not unprecedented in France, crystallise economic, tourist, social, partisan and ideological viewpoints. But perhaps even more than these, the environmental aspect seems to be mobilised even more, due to the image of surfing conveyed in French society, a practice characterised by numerous spontaneous representations (Guibert in The worlds of surfing. Historical transformations, social trajectories, technological bifurcations. Bordeaux: Editions MSHA, p. 282, 2020.). Surfing and the practice of surfing are only what individuals make of them. Indeed, surfing has no nature, it has no essence: it is the product of long cosmopolitan, historical and social processes. Surfing could be viewed as a non-organized ‘leisure’ activity, a competitive professional sport, a non-professional sport, a ‘way of life’, a beach game, an economic activity, a counter-cultural activity, or a specific and dedicated relationship with ‘nature’, (the list is obviously not exhaustive). Surfing can be all these things at once. In the light of our conceptual systems, which are in part our own social representations, each of us sees surfing as having one or more of these associations of ideas.