Welcome to my website!
My name is Blanche de Moidrey. I am a daughter, sister, partner, friend and researcher. I am French and have been living in the UK (England) for the last 6 years. Most of what I will share on this website comes from my academic work as a PhD student, but also my own reflections and thought processes I encounter behind my desk, on a walk in the park looking at trees and people, on a ‘wild’ swim, or when hill-walking in my surroundings areas: the Peak and Lake Districts, North Wales, and futher away in the Scottish Highlands.
My work explores people’s (dis)connection with the natural world, which I believe is deeply interwined with disconnection from the self. I am motivated to address this disconnection by researching ways of being and living with the more-than-human.
What does it mean to be stewards of our lands?
I believe that we crucially lack the imagination to conceive futures in which humans do not harm but rather act as stewards of the land. Imagery of rising sea levels, wars over natural resources and wild forest fires colonised our minds. Our imagination is captive to these ‘worst-case scenarios’ in which humans only further damage the Earth. I am passionate about creating spaces to learn, reflect, and share insights on sustainable pathways for human cohabitation with the non-human.
Drawing on my fieldwork experience engaging with Gaelic and Māori as Indigenous knowledges of Alba (Scotland) and Aotearoa (New Zealand), I hope to show that Indigenous worldviews offer promising pathways of co-existence with the non-human. Indigenous worldviews have been and continue to be violently repressed to make space for the hegemonic Western cultural, political, and economic systems. As Westerners, we have almost completely lost such ways of being, but maybe by mobilising Indigenous ways of being, the ones far removed from us and the ones on our doorsteps, we may be prompted to act as stewards of our own land…
I wish for this space to be one for collaboration. I welcome ideas to guide my thoughts in ways I cannot consider on my own. I welcome creative skills of graphic design, drawing, painting, film, and music-making (and many more!) to create something together. I welcome suggestions of co-authorship. I am also even more passionate about chatting than writing, so feel free to hit me up for a chat around a cup of tea if you want to discuss something (online works too!).
Some of the pictures used to illustrate this website are the artistic property of dear friends of mine who have kindly accepted me to use them. Pictures have been taken in various locations, from the French Alps to the mountain regions of Kyrgyzstan. You can notably check the work of my very talented friend Mathias here https://mathiasobrzut.com/home
Listen up!
Here is a podcast episode where I have been interviewed by the Global Development Institute with my friend Kalani Foster to speak about the broad themes of indigeneity and knowledge production. We touch on topics including how to grapple with one's positionality as a researcher, the complex political dimensions of indigeneity as a concept, and the ways in which our projects overlap and diverge.