René Dumont (March 13, 1904 - June 18, 2001) was a French engineer in agronomy, a sociologist, and an environmental politician. March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 1904 is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Agricultural science (also called agronomy) is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic, and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. ... Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups, and societies, sometimes defined as the study of social interactions. ... Politics is the process and method of making decisions for groups. ...

Dumont was born in Cambrai, in the north of France. His father was a professor in agriculture and his grandfather was a farmer. He graduated from the INA P-G, as an engineer in agronomy. Cambrai (Dutch: Kamerijk) is a French city and commune, in the Nord département, of which it is a sous_préfecture. ... The Institut national agronomique Paris-Grignon (INA P-G) is a French grande école. ... Agricultural science (also called agronomy) is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic, and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. ...

First sent to Vietnam (1929) at the end of his studies, he was disgusted by colonialism and returned to Paris to spend most of his career as a professor of agricultural sciences (1933-1974). 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... World map of colonialism circa 1945. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ...

René Dumont started his career as a promoter of the use of chemical fertizers and mechanisation. He wrote articles, quoting Nazi agriculture as a model, in "La Terre Française" (Pétainist weekly journal), favoring agricultural corporatism. However, he was one of the first to denounce damages from the green revolution ("Révolution Verte") and to fight agricultural productivism. He was an expert with the United Nations and FAO, and wrote about 30 books. He traveled widely and had a good understanding of farming issues in underdeveloped countries. The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Philippe Pétain Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain (April 24, 1856 - July 23, 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain, was a French soldier and leader of Vichy France. ... The Green Revolution is a process of technological development of agricultural techniques that began in Mexico in 1944 and has since spread throughout the world. ... The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ... Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations programs seek to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living; to improve the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of food and agricultural products; to promote rural development; and, by these means, to eliminate hunger. ...

He was preaching for

• demographic 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, or seeds, but a carefully balanced result of the three. He advocated relations between humans and their fields relied foremost on relations between humans themselves, social relationships being the basis for a proper agricultural and industrial development. Finally, he believed the basis for good social relationships between humans was good relationship between men and women, thus arguing demography control relied on women emancipation. Demography is the study of human population dynamics. ... A developing country is a country with low average income compared to the world average. ... Fertilizers are chemicals given to plants with the intention of promoting growth; they are usually applied either via the soil or by foliar spraying. ...

Ahead of his time, the most famous French agronomist, well-known for his red-pullover, surprised French people by showing on TV an apple and a glass of water, telling them how precious these resources were, and predicting the future price of oil. Dumont was one of the first to explain the consequences of what was to be called globalization, demographic explosion, productivism, pollution, shantytowns, malnutrition, rift between northern and southern countries. He was also one of the first to use the word "développement durable" (sustainable development). Species Malus domestica Malus sieversii Apple is the fruit (pome) of the genus Malus belonging to the family Rosaceae, and is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits. ... Water (from the Old English word wæter) is a colourless, tasteless, and odourless substance that is essential to all known forms of life and is known also as the most universal solvent. ... Natural resources are commodities that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified (natural) form. ... Oil is a generic term for organic liquids that are not miscible with water. ... Globalization (or globalisation) is a term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that are the result of dramatically increased trade and cultural exchange. ... Overpopulation may indicate any case in which the population of any species of animal may exceed the carrying capacity of its ecological niche. ... Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants, or the substances so released. ... Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, according to Our Common Future, a 1987 report from the UN. One of the factors which sustainable development must overcome is environmental degradation. ...

He ran for President in 1974 as the first ecologist candidate, and won 1.32 % of the votes. His campaign director was Brice Lalonde. That election opened the way to political ecology, for a whole generation that was beginning to realise economical growth was a dream, that market was not everything, and planet resources were not unlimited. The French political ecology was founded by Dumont and is under-developed countries oriented, against war, against capitalism and for solidarity. Some consider it not sufficiently rooted in deep ecology. The President of France, known officially as the President of the Republic (Président de la République in French), is Frances elected Head of State. ... Brice Lalonde (born February 10, 1946) is a former socialist and France, who ran for President of France in 1981. ... Political ecology is an umbrella term for a variety of projects that involve politics and the environment. ... Capitalism has been defined in various ways (see definitions of capitalism). ... The phrase deep ecology was introduced by the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss in 1973. ...

Dumont is considered to be the forefather of the French Green Party. 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". Les verts (the Greens) is one Green Party of France. ...

Quote:

"Une croissance indéfinie est impossible, nous n'avons qu'une seule terre, mais une civilisation du bonheur est possible… Les solutions existent, mais l'opinion les ignore car les structures actuelles et les détenteurs du pouvoir économique et politique s'y opposent.

Nos conditions de vie et de travail continuent à se détériorer et les inégalites sociales s'accentuent. De multiples conflits traduisent cette situation de crise. Elle ne peut que s'aggraver. C'est un seul et même système qui organise l'exploitation des travailleurs et la dégradation de vie qui met en péril la terre entière. La croissance aveugle ne tient compte ni du bien être, ni de l'environnement."

 René Dumont. 

He wrote a best selling book, "L’Afrique noire est mal partie" (1962). 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Other books :
l'Utopie ou la Mort (1973)
l'Agronome de la faim (1974)
L'Afrique étranglée (1980)
Pour l'Afrique, j'accuse (1986)
Un monde intolérable: le libéralisme en question (1988)
Démocratie pour l'Afrique (1991). 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also : Alain Lipietz Alain Lipietz (born September 19, French engineer, economist and politician, a member of the French Green Party. ...

External link

• René Dumont by Alain Lipietz (http://lipietz.net/article.php3?id_article=283) (en français)