Apologies in advance for cross-posting.
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Call For Papers: Dimensions of Political Ecology Conference
February 28 - March 3, 2013
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Appalachian Contours: Exploring Nature-Society Relations Across the Region
Session Organizers:
Christine Biermann, Dept. of Geography, Ohio State University ([log in to unmask])
Sarah Watson, Dept. of Geography, University of Kentucky ([log in to unmask])
The
region of Appalachia, long cast as an impoverished resource periphery
in need of outside aid and intervention, represents many of the key
social and environmental processes of concern to political ecologists,
including though not limited to: environmental degradation, resource
extraction, privatization and marketization of ecosystem services,
unequal distribution of the costs and benefits of environmental change,
and dispossession of land or resources. Additionally, there is a rich
and active tradition of grassroots social and environmental activism
that battles lingering inequalities and works to challenge homogeneous
representations of the region.
Despite
these developments there has been relatively little explicit
cross-fertilization between political ecology (and critical
nature-society studies more broadly) and Appalachian studies. Our
session aims to encourage this cross-fertilization by bringing together a
variety of papers that consider nature-society relations within the
Appalachian region. We invite papers from multiple and diverse perspectives spanning the entire Appalachian region. Broadly, we aim to
forge connections between researchers studying political ecological
issues in the region, while also bringing together narratives that
demonstrate the diversity of nature-society relations within Appalachia.
Both historical and contemporary studies are welcome.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
-Land use planning and environmental conflict
-The political economy of extraction (coal, natural gas, minerals, etc)
-Environmental justice movements in the region
-Appalachian identity and subjectivity
-Issues of race, gender, and/or class and the politics of nature
-Discourses of nature and landscape
-Green migration into Appalachia
-Rural gentrification
-Critical food/agriculture studies in the region
-Linking academic research with activism
-Issues at the rural-urban interface
-Linkages between biodiversity and poverty
-‘Produced’ landscapes or natures
If
you are interested in participating, please send an abstract and paper
title of no more than 250 words by December 1, 2012 to Christine
Biermann at [log in to unmask] and Sarah Watson at [log in to unmask]. All conference participants must also register for the conference and submit their abstract on the conference website (www.politicalecology.org)
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Christine Biermann
PhD. Candidate
Department of Geography
Ohio State University
