Apologies for any cross-listings. CALL FOR PAPERS and PARTICIPATION
Second International Conference of the Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative (SCORAI) "Transitions Beyond a Consumer Society" University of Maine, June 15-17, 2016 DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION IS SEPT 30TH The <http://www.scorai.org/> Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative is holding its second international conference on June 15-17, 2016 at the <http://umaine.edu/> University of Maine located in Orono, Maine, USA. The conference theme is "Transitions Beyond the Consumer Society" and the event is intended to provide opportunities to consider: 1. The continued development of a network for the interdisciplinary and international exchange of ideas, research, and best practices related to sustainable consumption practice and policy. 2. The presentation of innovative research and applied projects that improve our understanding of consumerist lifestyles and/or provide original insights into processes of societal transitions in the context of ecological limits, unequal distribution, and economic globalization. 3. The generation of collective insights into key strategies, policies, and institutions designed to foster alternative means to pursue individual and societal well-being. We invite diverse participation―including theoretical and applied contributions from representatives in academia, industry, government, and civil society organizations. Interdisciplinary perspectives and the work of emerging young scholars and practitioners are especially encouraged. SCORAI will present a prize for the best paper by a young scholar or practitioner. Work to be considered might address, but is not limited to, the following topics: Topic A: Visions of societies where the economy and culture are not principally built on mass consumption: sustainable lifestyles, steady-state economies, degrowth, systemic change, new economies (sharing, solidarity, local, grassroots), sustainable business/production, alternative financial systems, the commons, equity of wealth and income, sufficiency, sustainable cities, well-being, and post-capitalist/alternative futures. Topic B: Insights into the obstacles to a transition beyond consumerist societies: dominant consumer culture, laissez-faire market capitalism, institutional lock-in and path dependency, prevalent value systems, dominant power relations, peer/social pressure, materialism and focus on economic growth, income and wealth inequality, and class and gender inequalities. Topic C: Strategies for successful transitions: leverage points for systemic change, government policies, new business practices, partnerships, multi-stakeholder collaborations, grassroots innovations and bounded socio-technical experiments, design for sustainability/roles for designers, law as agent of change, communication and framing, teaching sustainable consumption, and methodologies for measuring progress/indicators. Topic D: Theories of social change: socio-technical transitions, social movement theories, theories of cultural change, social learning theories, communication (including mass and social media), scenarios, visioning, and backcasting. Topic E: Thematic domains of consumption: agribusiness and food, transportation, building and housing,energy transitions and climate change, leisure and vacation, and cities and urbanism. Topic F: Pollution of consumer products with toxic compounds (including exposure and regulation): pesticides and genetically modified crops, toxic compounds in consumer products. VISIT THE <https://www.confmanager.com/main.cfm?cid=2865> CONFERENCE WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION AND TO SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT. Questions? Please email to <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] Assistant Professor, Climate and Society http://shwomrac.tumblr.com/ Rutgers University Department of Human Ecology 848-932-9235 732-932-8887 (F) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
