Lorraine makes excellent points; that's all worthy stuff. But when I think about how incredibly connected young (and old) scholars are today via the internet compared to only 20 years ago, I'm not convinced. My point is that we have to decide where our impact on the planet becomes more important than our personal interests (including our careers). If ESS people (and others on this list) aren't able to change our lifestyles to reduce our ecological footprints in significant ways, I have to assume that there's little or no hope of getting others to do so. I think the only ethical position we can take is oppose conferences for anyone who isn't very near the venue. If this would be bad for the ISA budget, then I think it ought to be a mission of the ESS to show that that budget is less important than nature. We really have to draw the line somewhere.
I just think this is an issue that we have been avoiding for far too long. It's a tough one because it forces each of us to look in the mirror and to change our behaviors. Many of us argue in our writings that failure to do this is causing environmental problems. But if we don't behave accordingly, aren't we all hypocrites? Perhaps I'm being too provocative. Or maybe I'm not being provocative enough. All best, Paul -----Original Message----- From: Harris, Craig [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Fri 3/12/2010 6:30 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Cc: HARRIS, Paul Gordon; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: [gep-ed] 2011 ISA Annual Convention Call for Papers as a lurker who is not a member of isa, i'm wondering about the possibility of reducing the frequency of the big conference . . . if the isa meeting were every other year, would this reduce the carbon footprint by half while still accomplishing a large percentage of the functions that lorraine mentions ?? . . . cheers, craig craig k harris department of sociology michigan agricultural experiment station national food safety and toxicology center institute for food and agriculture standards food safety policy center michigan state university From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lorraine Elliott Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 4:01 AM To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [gep-ed] 2011 ISA Annual Convention Call for Papers Hi all I certainly agree that we should be looking at creative and alternative ways of 'meeting', I'm not advocating massive carbon footprints and, as an antipodean myself, I certainly do appreciate the financial constraints ... but let me throw a slightly different perspective into the discussion. Conferences like ISA have other functions as well, including the opportunity for PhD students and early career researchers to meet more established scholars to discuss their work, get advice and mentoring ... it's often those 'corridor' and one-on-one conversations and feedback opportunities (as well as finding out about jobs) that are useful for younger colleagues who are making their way in the increasingly global academic world. I do think that this is more difficult to do through video-conferencing alone. And while video-conferencing can work well for countries and universities that have excellent facilities for this (including reliable telecommunications), it doesn't always work well in those countries and those universities that are less well-resourced ... and there are lots of them! Maybe what this means is that instead of moving to sessions that are entirely virtual, we look at options for broadcasting or streaming sessions so that those who can and/or choose to get to ISA can still do so and those who can't or choose not to are still able to participate. In fact, this could actually also help us to expand participation for students and colleagues from poorer countries/universities as long as we can also find ways to support their access to the facilities necessary for this. Cheers Lorraine ----- Original Message ----- From: Olivia Bina <[email protected]> Date: Friday, March 12, 2010 7:21 pm Subject: Re: [gep-ed] 2011 ISA Annual Convention Call for Papers To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected], [email protected] > May I add support to Paul's point. If we, of all communities, cannot take > this step, how can we expect change to happen? > Best, > Olivia > > Olivia Bina > Research Fellow > Institute of Social Sciences University of Lisbon > Av. Professor Aníbal de Bettencourt, 9 > 1600-189 Lisboa, Portugal > > t: +351 21 7804 837 > f: +351 21 794 0274 > e: [email protected] > <javascript:main.compose('new',%20'[email protected]')> > skype: oliviabina > > > > > On 12 Mar 2010, at 04:03, HARRIS, Paul Gordon wrote: > > Dear Pam, > > Whatever happened to the ESS discussion about trying to persuade ISA to move > some of the annual convention online? I'm always uncomfortable that the > section (along with ISA more generally) is encouraging people to fly from far > and wide to attend these meetings. The planet just can't afford this kind of > lifestyle, however much we might want to argue that our face-to-face > collaboration might outweigh the resulting pollution (carbon offsets, such as > they are, notwithstanding). > > All best, > > Paul > -- > P.G. Harris > Department of Social Sciences > Hong Kong Institute of Education > 10 Lo Ping Road > Tai Po, HONG KONG > General Office Tel.: +852 2948 7707 > Direct Tel.: +852 2948 6763 > Fax: +852 2948 8047 > Email: pharris @ ied.edu.hk <http://www.ied.edu.hk/ssc/> > http://www.ied.edu.hk/ssc/ > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > <javascript:main.compose('new',%20'[email protected]')> on behalf of > Pam Chasek > Sent: Fri 3/12/2010 11:41 AM > To: [email protected] > <javascript:main.compose('new',%20'[email protected]')> > Subject: [gep-ed] 2011 ISA Annual Convention Call for Papers > > Hi everyone: > > I am forwarding the call for papers for ISA's 52nd Annual Convention in > Montreal in March 2011. The deadline for submission of proposals is June 1, > 2010. > > For those of you who weren't at ISA this year in New Orleans, I want to > repeat a few of the reminders I gave out then: > > 1. If you submit panel proposals, please do your best to include 5 papers, a > chair and a discussant. Chances are, at least one paper will drop off the > panel between June and March. > 2. If you submit individual paper proposals, the most important thing to > include is a list of good descriptive key words so that I will be able to > match you with other papers to create panels. > 3. It's always useful to submit to more than one section -- you have a > greater chance of getting chosen and it makes it easier for me to find > co-sponsors of panels to increase our overall number. > 4. If you volunteer to serve as a discussant or chair, ISA asks you to list > your areas of expertise. Just saying "environment" is not sufficient. If you > could be more specific (ie chemicals, biodiversity, environmental law, Asian > environmental issues, climate change, air pollution) that will help in > matching you to appropriate papers. > 5. You can only present 2 papers at the conference, but you can also serve as > a chair or discussant. > > If you have any questions, please let me know. > > Good luck! > > Pam Chasek > Program Chair, Environmental Studies Section, ISA > > > Pamela S. Chasek, Ph.D. > Executive Editor, Earth Negotiations Bulletin > IISD Reporting Services > > 300 East 56th Street #11A New York, NY 10022 USA > Tel: +1 212-888-2737- Fax: +1 646 219 0955 > E-mail: [email protected] <javascript:main.compose('new',%20'[email protected]')> > > > International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) <http://www.iisd.org> > www.iisd.org > > IISD Reporting Services - Earth Negotiations Bulletin <http://www.iisd.ca> > www.iisd.ca > > Subscribe for free to our publications <http://www.iisd.ca/email/subscribe.htm> > http://www.iisd.ca/email/subscribe.htm > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: International Studies Association [mailto:[email protected] > <javascript:main.compose('new',%20'[email protected]')> ] > Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 2:24 PM > To: Pam Chasek > Subject: 2011 ISA Annual Convention Call for Papers > > International Studies Association > 52nd Annual Convention > Montréal, Québec, Canada > March 16-19, 2011 > > Call for Papers > > David A. Lake, President > Matthew A. Baum, Program Co-Chair > Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, Program Co-Chair > > For the full call for papers, see the ISA 2011 page at > http://www.isanet.org/montreal2011/ > > Theme: Global Governance - Political Authority in Transition > > The nation-state is generally regarded as inadequate to cope with the > expanding global problems of the 21st century. Global climate change, > international economic crises, transnational terrorism and crime, pandemics, > nuclear proliferation, and more, all challenge the capabilities of states > individually and collectively. Nation-states are also challenged from below > by secessionist and other sub-national movements and from above by global > civil society. In response to these competing pressures, political authority > has begun to flow upwards to supranational or multilateral bodies, downwards > to regional and local governments, and sideways to private actors - both > within nations and transnationally - who assume previously > public responsibilities. Governance is no longer the exclusive preserve of > sovereign states, if it ever was. But neither is it moving uniformly in a > single direction. Despite growing interest in problems of global governance > and decades of research, four key questions still lack clear answers. Where > is political authority moving? Why is authority moving? Is global governance > good? How can global governance be improved and reformed? > > We invite proposals for papers and panels that address these and other issues > related to the problems of global governance in the 21st century. We > especially welcome proposals that bridge different theoretical, > epistemological and ontological divides within international studies to > address common substantive problems. > > DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS IS JUNE 1, 2010 > All proposals should be submitted online using the MyISA Conference > Management System at http://isanet.ccit.arizona.edu/MyISA > Program Chairs contact information: > Email: [email protected] > <javascript:main.compose('new',%20'[email protected]')> > > Mathew A. Baum > John F. Kennedy School of Government > Harvard University > 79 JFK Street > Cambridge, MA 02138 > United States > > Kristian Skrede Gleditsch > Department of Government > University of Essex > Wivenhoe Park > Colchester CO4 3SQ > United Kingdom > > > > > > > Associate Professor Lorraine Elliott Senior Fellow in International Relations Department of International Relations School of International, Political and Strategic Studies College of Asia and the Pacific The Australian National University Canberra, ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA e: [email protected] t: +61 2 61250589 f: +61 2 61258010 __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4938 (20100312) __________ The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. http://www.eset.com
