Valérie Gelézeau is a geographer and director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales. The Germaine Tillion Library invites you to meet her at one of its "Geopolitical Cafés" to mark the 2026 publication of her latest book, "DMZ : marche et démarche à la frontière coréenne"
Can spaces be repaired? What is it like to live in places seventy years after a catastrophe? What has been rebuilt when a demilitarized zone (DMZ) has cut through previously coherent and continuous territories? What is life like today along this border—which is also a non-border—in a geopolitical context that is neither quite war nor quite peace? The author seeks to answer these questions by presenting material gathered during a 500 km journey on foot along the DMZ Peace Trail, which opened in September 2024. Revealing the behind-the-scenes story of a mobile investigation along the trail, the essay combines a cultural geography of this still-evolving border—from its origins to its contemporary landscapes—with reflections on walking as a research method and a travel journal. Along the way, we encounter soldiers, of course, but also hipster cafés, vampire deer, and alternative-living projects, all within contrasting and unusual regions that reflect the absurdity of spaces born from conflict, where the border scar has become a place of remembrance and healing. Valérie Gelézeau, a geographer and Korean studies scholar, is a director of studies at the EHSS. Through her fieldwork, she explores Korean society's relationship with space: in Séoul, in new towns, along the border between the two Corées, and in Corée du Nord. She has published numerous books and articles on these subjects. Driven by an enduring passion for understanding the cultural geography of Corée, she explores sensitive and mobile fieldwork methods and experiments with alternative, hybrid forms of writing that blend academic research, literary fiction, micro-texts, and travel journals. In April 2026, L'Atelier des Cahiers published her book DMZ : marche et démarche à la frontière coréenne. Front cover; Credits: L'Atelier des Cahiers Laurent Hassid holds a doctorate in geography, specializing in geopolitics. He runs the blog https://beyondborderlines.wordpress.com/ and has organized the geopolitical cafés since they were launched in 2016. Since 2016, the Germaine Tillion Library has regularly hosted geopolitical cafés on current issues. They are moderated by Laurent Hassid. The guest briefly introduces the café's topic, after which participants contribute, ask questions, share their experiences, respond, and begin a discussion with the speaker.
Admission: Free, subject to availability
Source: paris.fr — photo: Valérie Gelézeau