Editing René Dumont (section)

== Biography ==
Dumont was born in [[Cambrai]], [[Nord (French department)|Nord]], in the north of France. His father was a professor in [[agriculture]] and his grandfather was a farmer. He graduated from the [[INA P-G]], as an engineer in [[agricultural science|agronomy]]. First sent to [[Vietnam]] (1929) at the end of his studies, he was disgusted by [[colonialism]] and returned to [[Paris]] to spend most of his career as a professor of agricultural sciences (1933–74).
René Dumont started his career as a promoter of the use of chemical fertilizers and mechanisation. He wrote articles in ''La Terre Française'' ([[Philippe Pétain|Pétainist]] weekly journal), favoring agricultural corporatism. However, he was one of the first to denounce damages from the [[Green Revolution]] ("Révolution Verte") and to fight agricultural productivism. He was an expert with the [[United Nations]] and [[FAO]], and wrote about 30 books. He traveled widely and had a good understanding of farming issues in underdeveloped countries.

He advocated:
* [[demography|demographic]] control
* energy savings
* international cooperation to help [[developing nations|poor nations]]
* [[soil quality]] preservation and remediation

He considered development not to be so much a question of money, [[fertilizer]], or seeds, but a careful balance of the three. He advocated relations between humans and their fields that relied foremost on relations between humans themselves, social relationships being the basis for proper agricultural and industrial development. Finally, he believed the basis for good social relationships between humans was good relationships between men and women, thus arguing demographic control relied on female emancipation.

Ahead of his time, the most famous French agronomist, well known for his red-pullover, surprised French people by showing on TV an [[apple]] and a glass of water, telling them how precious these natural resources were, and predicting the future price of [[Petroleum|oil]]. Dumont was one of the first to explain the consequences of what was to be called [[globalization]], [[population explosion|demographic explosion]], productivism, [[pollution]], shantytowns, malnutrition, rift between northern and southern countries. He was also one of the first to use the term "développement durable" ([[sustainable development]]).

He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a [[world constitution]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Letters from Thane Read asking Helen Keller to sign the World Constitution for world peace. 1961 |url=https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK01-07-B149-F04-022.1.8 |access-date=1 July 2023 |website=Helen Keller Archive |publisher=American Foundation for the Blind}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Letter from World Constitution Coordinating Committee to Helen, enclosing current materials |url=https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK01-07-B154-F05-028.1.6 |access-date=3 July 2023 |website=Helen Keller Archive |publisher=American Foundation for the Blind}}</ref> As a result, for the first time in human history, a [[World Constituent Assembly]] convened to draft and adopt a [[Constitution for the Federation of Earth]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Preparing earth constitution {{!}} Global Strategies & Solutions {{!}} The Encyclopedia of World Problems |url=http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/strategy/193465 |url-status= |access-date=15 July 2023 |website=The Encyclopedia of World Problems {{!}} Union of International Associations (UIA)}}</ref>

He ran for [[President of France|President]] in 1974 as the first ecologist candidate, and won 1.32% of the votes. His campaign director was [[Brice Lalonde]]. That election opened the way to [[political ecology]]. The French political ecology was founded by Dumont and is under-developed countries oriented, against war, against [[capitalism]] and for solidarity. Some consider it not sufficiently rooted in [[deep ecology]].

Dumont is considered to be the forefather of the [[Europe Écologie–The Greens|French Green Party]]. In a statement, France's Green Party called Dumont "the man who made it possible to bring environmental policies in a direct and natural manner into the political world".

He wrote a best-selling book, ''L’Afrique noire est mal partie'' (1962).

Dumont was a founding member of [[ATTAC]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.france.attac.org/le-coll-ge-des-fondateurs |title=ATTAC founding members |access-date=21 May 2012|language=fr}}</ref>