The Transnational Institute of Social Ecology (TRISE) is glad to 
announce its next conference on 25th – 27th October 2024 in Athens, Greece!

Title: The Politics of Social Ecology: From Theory to Praxis

Context
Contemporary crises are making the struggle against capitalist modernity 
and its associated forms of domination more urgent than ever. The global 
rule of capitalism has kept intensifying labor exploitation, social 
inequalities, and ecological breakdown, pushing human societies and the 
ecosystem to their limits.
The extinction of species and the ravages of climate change, caused by a 
socio-economic system based on economic growth and profit, are changing, 
at an unprecedented pace, the conditions through which the web of life 
develops and evolves. The Covid-19 pandemic is only the latest 
manifestation of the devastating consequences of a model of society that 
sees nature as an enemy to conquer and an object to exploit.
In the meantime, military conflicts have once again engulfed many 
regions and threaten to lead to a new World War. This comes to remind us 
that a humanity dominated by nation-states and the profit-motive can 
never achieve lasting peace. Furthermore, this environment of 
militarization and insecurity has given a further boost to fascist 
tendencies worldwide that were already trying to exploit the popular 
indignation sparked by the 2008 economic crisis.
Yet everywhere in the world, cultures of resistance are emerging. The 
growing resonance of the struggles for women’s liberation, radical 
ecology, racial and economic justice and direct democracy testify to the 
emerging desire for an emancipatory future. The living examples of 
Zapatistas in Chiapas and the Kurds of Rojava demonstrate what 
non-capitalist forms of organization can look like thanks to decades of 
grassroots work.
Citizens are realizing that building another world through collective 
emancipation is not only desirable and possible, but also necessary. A 
rising proportion of people see the values of solidarity, mutual aid and 
harmony with nature as real alternatives to the neoliberal order. A 
reconciliation of society and nature is essential for the times to come: 
radical change starts from the understanding that an ecological and 
democratic society is not an abstract dream but a practical possibility 
within our reach.
In this context, the ideas of social ecology and Communalism provide a 
revolutionary agenda proposing a route towards a “communal society 
oriented towards human needs, responding to ecological imperatives, and 
developing a new ethics based on sharing and cooperation”. In this 
historic moment, marked by a deepening of the crisis of capitalism and 
raising hopes and demands for a better future, these ideas have much to 
offer to those looking for a utopian vision and a radical path.
Permeated by dialectical naturalism, social ecology presents two 
important complementary projects that go beyond abstract social theory. 
On the one hand, it challenges the current capitalist system and all 
forms of oppression, including racism, ethno-centrism, and patriarchy. 
On the other hand, it offers a reconstructive and revolutionary vision 
for an ecological post-scarcity society. Social ecology tackles the 
current societal struggles that surface in both urban and rural 
contexts, while addressing central questions about our relationship with 
nature, science, and technology.
What is more, social ecology suggests how to construct a new society, 
promoting prefigurative political strategies that include affinity 
groups and citizen assemblies, the formation of directly-democratic 
social movements, as well as educational projects. Social ecology 
provides an ethics of complementarity that lays the foundation of 
struggles for mutual aid, self-determination, decentralization, gender 
liberation, horizontalism, and egalitarianism.
In order to achieve this vision of a desirable future, collective 
answers to multiple challenges need to be explored. From the periphery 
to the centers of capitalism, these answers take many shapes and forms, 
illustrating the nature of the movement itself: decentralized, 
autonomous and evolving. To create successful and long-lasting 
alternatives, connections between these diverse initiatives need to be 
developed. Their members need to meet, train, dialogue, share strategies 
and build networks.
For these purposes, Transnational Institute of Social Ecology (TRISE),  
is organizing  its next International Encounter in Athens in October 
2024. The Encounter aims to respond to the need to build the movement 
through a series of activities including presentations and workshops. It 
will gather citizens, activists, and researchers at the forefront of 
these multiple struggles for desirable common futures.

Call for contributions
For this Encounter, we welcome any intervention in dialogue with social 
ecology that aims at addressing one of the following themes and challenges:

     1    Economics & Self-sufficiency. The first theme explores the 
ecological and material basis of human societies. With the impending 
collapse of globalized neoliberalism, reinventing our forms of 
production and consumption around just and ecological principles is a 
dire necessity. This concerns all sectors : agriculture and food 
sovereignty, housing, electricity and energy, and urbanism. The role of 
technology and its social matrix will be determining factors in these 
deep changes to the material basis of our economies. To explore these 
challenges we welcome contributions which address the following questions:
     •    Which strategies and practices towards non-capitalist forms of 
production and consumption do we need to explore and adopt?
     •    How are we to transform our agriculture in order to produce 
and distribute food ecologically?
     •    What should be the role of technology in an ecological society?
     •    What forms of housing and construction could be (re)invented?

     2    Democracy & Self-management. The second theme deals with power 
structures and social organization. Recovering political power requires 
the creation of radically democratic institutions: libertarian 
municipalism and democratic confederalism provide inspiration for 
self-organization based on the principles of autonomy, mutual aid, 
direct democracy, feminism, and ecology. The liberation of women and the 
struggle against patriarchy are key priorities for alternative forms of 
organization and structures. Building and nurturing these will further 
depend on the types of education and approaches to pedagogy that we 
develop in our communities. To explore these challenges, we welcome 
contributions addressing the following questions:
     •    How can direct-democratic institutions be formed and nourished?
     •    How do feminist struggles for women’s liberation necessarily 
inform the creation of radically democratic institutions?
     •    How can education and pedagogy be (re)invented to nurture 
mutual aid,  care and restorative justice, rather than competition?

     3    Global challenges & Common futures. The third theme focuses on 
challenges faced at the global scale. Racial and colonial forms of 
domination are inseparable from ecological collapse in a context where 
colonial legacies continue to shape mindsets, attitudes, and 
relationships between people. Decolonization movements are at the 
forefront of the deconstruction of this heritage, with multiple 
movements directly linking it to the climate emergency and biodiversity 
loss. Climate and environmental justice movements are rapidly growing, 
highlighting the social justice and human rights dimension of the 
crisis. In parallel, the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 
wars in Ukraine and Palestine illustrate the urgent need to build new 
forms of internationalism capable of creating solidarity and mutualistic 
networks across borders and continents. To deal with these global issues 
we welcome contributions addressing the following questions:
     •    How can decolonial approaches contribute to global emancipation?
     •    What is the role of internationalism and how can it answer the 
needs of social movements?
Format of the Encounter
The events of this Encounter will go beyond the traditional conference 
format and involve a hybrid and interactive approach. Three main blocks 
will be integrated: first, an educational component, second, a learning 
by listening component and third a learning by doing component. Through 
these main blocks we aim to go beyond theory towards practice and vice 
versa. The educational component is reserved for TRISE members and 
selected local activists. These blocks are outlined as follows:
     1    Educational component
     •    This component will be composed of the following activities
     ◦    Talks by TRISE members on the history of social ecology, the 
overview of current municipalist movements, talks about Rojava and 
Zapatismo, jineology and feminism
     ◦    Organization of workshops on social ecology and related 
practices (assemblies, restorative justice, peace processes etc.)
     ◦    Discussion of papers and workshops to be presented and 
proposals for the future
     2    Learning by listening component
     •    This component will be composed of the following activities:
     ◦    Interactive panels
     ◦    Keynote speeches
     ◦    Paper presentations
     3    Learning by doing component
     •    This component will be composed of the following activities:
     ◦    Visiting grassroots initiatives in Athens
     ◦    Workshops & activities

Submit your idea!
We accept contributions to the program for the theoretical and the 
practical components. Activities in the educational component will be 
delivered by TRISE members and selected local activists. For the 
theoretical part of the program, we welcome abstracts for papers and for 
the practical, proposals for workshops and similar activities.
To submit your abstract and/or workshop proposal, please send a brief 
description (500 words max) and a short bio (100 words max) to 
[log in to unmask]
Accepted speakers will be invited to produce a full paper (5000 words 
max) that will be circulated among the other presenters prior to the 
conference. Only presenters with a submitted paper will be allowed to 
present during the conference.

Calendar
Deadline for abstracts: End of May 2024
Communication of abstract 
accepted: June 2024
Submission of full paper: September 2024
TRISE 
Conference: 25th – 27th October 2024
Let’s make this Encounter an opportunity to meet, share, and contribute 
to building the communalist movement!
For any information, please contact [log in to unmask]

########################################################################

To unsubscribe from the CRIT-GEOG-FORUM list, click the following link:
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CRIT-GEOG-FORUM&A=1

This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CRIT-GEOG-FORUM, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/