The creation of RECLUS, Réseau d'études des changements dans les localisations et les unités spatiales, which can he translated by « Nework for the Study of Changes in Locations and Spatial Units » is the most important venture in French Geography for the 1980's. It is not the only one, of course, since other teams have been formed or reorganized : however, most of these have close links with RECLUS. The experiment, for what it reveals concerning the status and current thrust of geography needs to be analysed.