**Apologies for cross-postings. Please circulate widely** Call for Papers: 2013 AAG Annual Meeting – Los Angeles, California, April 9-13, 2013
Session Title: Metabolizing Nature: The Space-time Dimensions of Commodity Production Organizer: Elvin E. Delgado – Central Washington University Session Sponsors: Energy and Environment Specialty Group Economic Geography Specialty Group Session Description: The ‘metabolism of commodity production’ – what has been referred to as the inflows and outflows of different raw materials, conversions of energy and the production of heat, pollution and waste (Bridge 2000) – has been a central concern for critical resource geographers in recent decades. Focusing on this particular moment of production is important because the material transformations that constitute this process generate social and environmental consequences that transcend the boundaries of the production site itself. Central to this process is the way in which different institutions and the state bear upon the metabolism of economy and nature by mediating the relationship between the space-time dimensions of capitalism and the space-time dimensions of ecology along the commodity production process. This paper session seeks to critically explore the metabolism of commodity production as a framework to conceptualize the different tensions and/or contradictions created through the transformation of raw materials into commodities by focusing on the social, environmental, economic and political processes embedded in these transformations. How does this concept help us in the context of our own empirical and theoretical work? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this perspective? Can we think of a different way to conceptualize this process? Where do we go from here? How does the materiality of natural resources shape this process? This call for papers welcomes empirical research that advances our understanding of the metabolism of commodity production using a variety of methods and theoretical frameworks. Historical and contemporary studies are equally welcome. Possible paper topics include, but are not limited to: •The political, social, economic, and/or environmental forces shaping the metabolism of commodity production •The way in which the materiality of natural resources shape their commodification •The legal framework under which nature is incorporated into the production process •The commodification of nature •The role of the state as a mediator in the transformation of nature •The different outflows of the metabolism of commodity production •The institutional configurations embedded in this process •The inflows and outflows of energy along the commodity production chain •The spatial and temporal configurations of the ‘metabolism of commodity production’ •The socio-environmental impacts of this process Please email abstracts of 250 words or less by Friday, November 9th to Elvin E. Delgado ([email protected]). References: Bridge, G. (2000). The social regulation of resource access and environmental impact: production, nature and contradiction in the US copper industry. Geoforum, 31: 237-256.
