Within the framework of globalization and the implicit process of cultural standardization, we are confronted with the paradoxical emergence of local identities and territories - in Aquitaine and beyond - which are supported by original cultural practices or claiming, at least, to be as such. What are the particulars of these local cultures, which often come in a variety of forms in the context of a more or less deep sociospatial recomposition (development of peri-urban et coastal areas) ? To what extent do the confirmation or emergence of these cultures, firmly rooted in local identities and territories, impact on citizenship, country planning and regional development ? How can social realities assert themselves ?On our ground of investigation, the south-west corner of the Landes département bordering the Pays basque and the Béarn, we are in front of society in a state of renewal. Therefore it is convenient to figure out the lines along which the local territory we chose takes shape. Confronted with changing objects full of ideologies and representations, we adopted a combining approach which lies at the heart of a social and humanist geography. Our work of investigation and research has enabled us to show that the local culture of this area is marked both by external influences and its own features. The study of daily life in our area of investigation in the south of the Landes has shed light on the inner components of a whole culture based on living, the sense of the “here” and popular and lively celebrations. Nevertheless these apparent specificities are the outcome of “connections” worked out by increasingly mobile individuals, regardless of the urban or rural context. Local features thus turn out to be permanently under an innovatory process of construction fed by makeshift identity creations.
