  A mesoscopic model of amorphous plasticity is discussed in the context of
depinning models. After embedding in a d + 1 dimensional space, where the
accumulated plastic strain lives along the additional dimension, the gradual
plastic deformation of amorphous media can be regarded as the motion of an
elastic manifold in a disordered landscape. While the associated depinning
transition leads to scaling properties, the quadrupolar Eshelby interactions at
play in amorphous plasticity induce specific additional features like
shear-banding and weak ergodicity breakdown. The latters are shown to be
controlled by the existence of soft modes of the elastic interaction, the
consequence of which is discussed in the context of depinning.
