The production of territories seen from a materialist perspective: milieus in the politics of territorialization

How are territories produced? We conduct an analysis at the micro level of the reciprocal adjustments among actors in a 'new valley' that emerged in north-west France after the removal of two dams. By distancing ourselves from approaches that focus exclusively on the socio-political actors of territorialisation, we show that territories are generated through a site-specific process prompted by the affordances of milieus. From the field data collected through interviews, we demonstrate that the materiality of the milieus plays an important role in the politics by which territories are demarcated and collective entities defined, some of whom are included and others, excluded. Discussion shows that territorialization is politics rooted in the materiality of milieus.