450 years of circumnavigations. How around the world mobilities shaped the World as a political space?

International audienceCircumnavigations are a particular type of mobility. They involve moving at the world scale, but also, around the world, i.e. returning to the point of departure by sailing around the earth. Those travel fascinated the general public since the first chaotic and deadly circumnavigations of Magellan (1519) and Loaisa (1525). But circumnavigations are not only the work of great explorers. The protagonists are numerous, issued of varied geographical and social origin, and their motivations are just as varied. Financed by States, private companies or personal savings, carried out by sailboat, plane, on foot, on horseback, on motorbike, in a submarine or by train; carried out in groups, in pairs or alone, with or without pets; the circumnavigations contribute to the drawing of an emerging world space, notably by the political dimension they almost always embody.Based on exploratory work, this presentation analyze more than a hundred “remarkable” circumnavigations carried out between 1519 (Magellan) and 1969 (Golden Globe Challenge). It will show how circumnavigations are not only part of the major stages of globalisation but also contribute to the emergence of a geographical and political space relevant on a global scale in which individuals play a leading role