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Call for Papers Theme: Decolonising Degrowth Subtitle: From Sustainability to Climate Justice Type: Transdisciplinary Conference Institution: Centre for Culture and Ecology, Durham University Location: Online Date: 24.–25.6.2021 Deadline: 16.4.2021 __________________________________________________ As the concept of degrowth is becoming mainstream, it is incumbent upon scholars to scrutinise its implications and aims. In the wake of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s seminal bioeconomic analyses, the concept of degrowth was originally formulated by André Gorz in 1972, the same year as the Club of Rome commissioned The Limits to Growth. In recent years, theories of degrowth have gained momentum, spurring multiple publications. While on the face of it, degrowth might seem narrowly concerned with ecological sustainability, recently authors such as Jason Hickel (2020), Jamie Tyberg (2020), and Claire Descher & Elliot Hurst (2018) have made the connection between degrowth and decolonisation, highlighting how degrowth furthers climate justice—not only because the main polluters will be least impacted by ecological collapse, but because the resources that are supposed to fuel ‘green growth’ are largely found in the lower-income countries. High-income countries sustain their consumption by appropriation and extraction of resources from the Global South; colonialism is therefore not incidental to capitalism (Lazarus 2011; Rodney 1972) because it always fuels growth through accumulation by dispossession, as argued by David Harvey (2003). Moreover, Amitav Ghosh (2016) sees growth as an inherent part of the colonial socioeconomic imaginary and tied to the logic of imperialism. Thus, degrowth means curbing the extractive actions of multinational corporations irrespective of what resources are extracted. From this perspective, decolonisation is the logical endpoint of degrowth. In this two-days online conference, we aim to shed light on the entanglements of culture and ecology by zoning in on the relationship between degrowth and decolonisation. How may these perspectives benefit each other, and may culture act as a site of resistance if it is itself caught in the capitalist system? How does degrowth offer a corrective to notions of green transitions that do not challenge the logic of extraction at the heart of the ecological crisis? As part of a process of decolonising our minds, politics and culture, moving away from fossil fuels is not enough if this simply means extracting other resources to fuel our economies. These topics serve as productive entry point into adjacent struggles and their entwinements, traversing debates in anthropology, cultural studies, literary theory, and environmental humanities. Together, they do not only highlight the constitutive interaction between ecology and culture to grasp the role of capitalist production in mediating this relation; they also enquire into the intersections between race, gender and class. In consideration of the conference’s transdisciplinary aim, we encourage researchers from all disciplines and backgrounds to answer our call, and especially welcome contributions coming from doctoral students and early career scholars. We seek abstracts covering, but not limited to, the following topics: - The Psychic Costs of Growth - The Social and Cultural Imaginary of Growth/Colonisation - The Historical Connections between Growth and Colonisation - Philosophical Approaches to the Questions of Degrowth and Decolonisation - Capitalist Realism and Disaster Capitalism - Lessons from Intersectionality, Ecofeminism and Social Reproduction Theory - Contributions from Cultural Anthropology and Ethnography - Imaginaries of Degrowth and Decolonisation in World Literature - Case Studies of Intertwinements between Degrowth and Decolonisation - Degrowth and the Ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic Please send your abstract (max 250 words), within April 16th, together with a short bio to: marco.pavan...@durham.ac.uk rasmus.sandnes-hauke...@durham.ac.uk The outcome of the selection process will be notified to the authors within April 23rd. Keynote speakers: Prof Miriam Lang (Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar) Prof Patricia E. Perkins (York University) Conference website: https://www.dur.ac.uk/cce/?eventno=48758 __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/interphil@list.polylog.org/ __________________________________________________
