August 31, 2020

Dear Dimensions of Political Ecology (DoPE) friends,

When we last met for DoPE 2020, the world was a different place. Just weeks after our conference ended, we found ourselves swept up in a global pandemic, sheltering in a lockdown, watching the world we knew transform. In the six months since then, the pandemic has fully laid bare inequalities, state-sponsored violence, and ever-increasing precarity. We have experienced rapid transformation due to the transnational movement against police brutality and systemic racism. Recent events have unveiled a culmination of overlapping processes of power and exploitation, previously hidden and silenced, and we are experiencing a world made new through various movements. The academy as a whole is facing challenges and reckonings, and the DoPE community is not excluded from these impacts. We want DoPE to be a part of this conversation and movement to re-examine our systems and strengthen our communities.

This moment allowed us to reevaluate our relationships within the DoPE community and our organizing collective at the University of Kentucky. As graduate students, we find ourselves wondering what it might look like to reshape our relationship to overwork in the neoliberal academy, always, but especially in times of crisis. In light of recent developments, we recognize our need to scale back as organizers during these difficult times and consider alternative visions for DoPE 11 carefully.

We want to announce that we will be holding DoPE 11 virtually this year, February 18-20, 2021. That said, the structure and events of DoPE will look significantly different this year. Amidst these changes, we will still work to prioritize some opportunities for junior scholars to participate in political ecology-related discussions. We aim to reduce traditional conference participation/organization burdens while preserving this important venue for scholarly discourse.

The highlight of the event will be a keynote speaker (TBA). We are looking to help build our political ecology community outside and beyond the realm of a three-day conference and will announce other elements such as events, reading groups, and speaker opportunities as we build our capacity to do so. We value many of DoPE’s traditions, the vibrant community, and recognize how meaningful the conference is for scholars and activists worldwide. We are committed in the long-term toward maintaining this important event.

With the move to an online format, the conference will be free and open to the public. Registration will be required, and there will be an optional registration contribution to support the growth and development of DoPE beyond this crisis.

As the pandemic unfolds while we continue to struggle with systemic racism and police brutality, higher education finds itself in a new phase of an ongoing existential crisis. We want to maintain the critical space and community that DoPE has become well-known for in the political ecology community. We appreciate your understanding of the reduced capacity of the conference and collective this year. We hope to preserve vital elements of DoPE while also centering rest, restoration, and care within and beyond our community.

Sincerely,

DoPE 11 Organizers