Agreements and controversies around the notion of territorial governance: a bibliographic review of a fashionable notion

In France and French-speaking countries, the notion of governance is fashionable. It appears in discourse by the actors involved in managing collective affairs. It is also used by the various fields of science that analyse the management modes of local systems. A consensus seems to have formed around this notion. There are, however, some authors who criticise it and its uses. Diverse analyses have been put into perspective and have revealed agreements and controversies. This article analyses various texts dedicated to territorial governance and subsidiary processes. It deals with authors who write in French and highlights the points of agreement and disagreement between disciplines or schools of thought. Although the notion of territorial governance undeniably has strategic and political qualities, its careless use in scientific analyses may prove hazardous. The controversies and agreements revealed have allowed for the heuristic value of this trendy notion to be specified.