Ambiance is an enigma. It belongs to a lesser, spectral mode of existence that resists any fixed definition. Rather than seeking to define it once and for all, we prefer to approach it through its powers, effects and uses. In arguing for a strong version of ambiance, the aim is to show how it contributes to sensitize the world. Ambiance weaves the very fabric of sensitivity. It has the power to intensify and transform our relationship with the world. Various perspectives will be sketched out to question the modus operandi of ambiance and identify the contemporary issues it faces.
Jean-Paul Thibaud is a sociologist. He is currently an honorary researcher and associate member of the CRESSON laboratory in Grenoble, France.
Before retiring, he was senior researcher at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research).
He founded the International Ambiances Network (www.ambiances.net) and co-founded the journal Ambiances.
His research focuses on the theory of urban ambiances, contemporary sensibilities to socio-ecological issues, the anthropology of sound, ordinary perception in urban environments, the sensitive ethnography of public spaces, and in situ methodologies.
Jean-Paul Thibaud has published numerous articles and books, particularly on ambiances. Among these: En quête d’ambiances. Éprouver la ville en passant, published in 2015 by MetisPresses.
His latest book, to be published in September 2025 by Routledge, is entitled Ambiances. A Sensitivity to Ordinary Situations, co-edited with Nicolas Tixier and David Zerbib.
