LEGEM
Laboratory of geopolitical studies for collective memory
The LEGEM is an independant research laboratory dedicated to the analysis of contemporary geopolitical dynamics, providing special care to the spread of authoritarian practices around the globe. Gathering researchers from various fields, it aims at providing context to these processes with scientific precision, both in an objective and accessible way, and participating in the making of a collective memory for ou time.
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Who are we ?
The LEGEM is an independant group of researchers and students from various fields, working on geopolitical issues. Therefore, it gathers people from different generations with complementary specialities both in space and theme. At the crossroads between scientific research, media and non-profits, the LEGEM balances methodological precision, knowledge accessibility and critical commitment in order to provide context to contemporary geopolitical dynamics and analyse its social and political implications.
Goals
LEGEM’s main goals are the following ones :
– Popularize access to research in social sciences for all.
– Provide information and contextualized analysis, widely absent from prevailing media on a world scale.
– Cross approaches and fields, as well as the different categories of events and political processes around the world, in order to highlight shared connections and dynamics.
– Undertake a monitoring work on contemporary authoritarian tendancies and help in the making of a collective geopolitical memory of our time.
Values and commitments
The LEGEM relies on the assessment that the world is not divided between “democratic” countries and “authoritarian” countries, but rather undergoing complex political processes, marked by moving and often contradictory tendancies. In this perspective, the laboratory strongly advocates for a non-westernized approach, based on the understanding of actors from the societies under study, the plurality of points of view and field observation.
In addition, the LEGEM strongly values the effort of contextualization within any political and social analysis. The escalation of conflicts and authoritarian dynamics, amplified by their leur ultra-broadcasting on social media, weakens our collective relation to time and history. In the face of the risk of such permanent lack of context, the laboratory is committed to systematically embed the events under study within their historical, social and geopolitical contexts. This double requirement stems from the values which LEGEM wholeheartedly advocates for : democracy, equality, respect of international law, freedoms of expression, research and civil opposition, as well as the protection of all minorities.
Method
LEGEM’s approach is fundamentally multidisciplinary. Geopolitics is at the heart of its reflexion, interlinked with history, law, sociology, political science and gender studies. The laboratory’s method relies on three pillars : the analysis of links between national stakes and foreign policies, especially regarding authoritarian processes ; the constant requirement to provide historical, social and geopolitical context ; and the intersectionality of both approaches and studied objects.
The LEGEM does not advocate for neutrality but rather objectivity : precision regarding facts and academic requirements are its work’s foundations. Its aim is not only popularization but in-depth analytical production, ranging from long to short articles, interviews, podcasts, videos, maps, timelines and so on. In this respect, the laboratory relies on an editorial chart and a multidisciplinary reading committee.
Partnerships
The LEGEM is an organism which remains independant from any political, public or private structure. It can establish long-term partnerships or punctual collaborations in order to achieve its goals or specific projects and organize both scientific and cultural events. In an international perspective, LEGEM’s productions are meant to be published in French as well as in English.
The laboratory can also ask for financing and subsidies from organizations or NGOs whose missions and values are compatible with its approach. Every partnership, collaboration and source of financing will be submitted to a full transparency and will be made public on LEGEM’s website.
Incoming activities
The LEGEM website is under construction. It will be fully operational as of the first semester of 2026, with the publication of its first contents and the announcement of its first scientific and cultural events.
The Memory Cloud project
Memory Cloud is LEGEM’s main project. It is an autonomous portal and works as an interactive timeline, which allows you to picture and interlink geopolitical, political and social events based on different themes and geographical areas.
Conceived as a tool for research, monitoring and long-term contextualization, Memory Cloud will progressively evolve in time, space and reviewed themes. Supplied with work from the LEGEM and its partners, it aims at embedding contemporary geopolitical dynamics – and especially authoritarian processes – within larger temporalities, by highlighting continuities, disruptions and transnational interconnections.
The Memory Cloud project
Memory Cloud is a project for a hybrid numerical platform, at the crossroads between academic research and media production. It is structured around a key tool : an interactive timeline allowing the user to view and cross geopolitical, political and social events according to different themes and geographical areas.