In the face of a nearly inconceivable unfolding crisis of ecological destruction, environmental injustices and social inequalities, it has become increasingly important to create spaces recognizing the radical and everyday acts of care that are being contributed in resistance to systems of oppression in all forms. Feminist thinkers have long helped make visible the extractive and destructive practices that continue to threaten frontline communities, including racialized dispossession, the tensions around social reproductive labor and disproportionate impacts of climate change by race, class, gender, disability, and more (Elmhirst, 2015; Rocheleau, Thomas-Slayter and Wangari, 2013). And yet, it is increasingly important for both scholars and practitioners to find ways to map out new alternatives and emerging practices of care to address compounding crises and environmental injustices (Ojeda et al., 2022; McKane et al., 2023). Black feminists define this practice as an ethic of care, a liberatory praxis that aims to center relations of community care over exploitation as a means of envisioning a new path forward (Collins, 2000; Kendall, 2021; Neely and Lopez, 2021). Scholarship on feminist political ecologies and community economies have also worked to make visible the work, knowledge and contributions helping to transform the planet (Gibson-Graham et al., 2013; Dombrokski, Healy and McKinnon, 2018).
This virtual presentation session will consider what it means to perform acts of care in solidarity and resistance in face of socio-ecological local and global crises. We are looking for 12- 15 minute presentations that highlight examples of community care in the pursuit of a more just and sustainable environment. Topics can include environmental justice, civic stewardship, social infrastructure, mutual aid, activism, care work, social reproduction, and more.
We encourage presentations from practitioners – including community organizers, activists, representatives from greening groups, and care workers, co-authored presentations from practitioners and researchers, and engaged scholarship from researchers.
Authors orally present the findings of a project, with an emphasis on practitioners – including community organizers, activists, representatives from greening groups, and care workers, co-authored presentations from practitioners and researchers, and engaged scholarship from researchers. This session includes 5-6 presentations of 12-15 minutes each. Afterwards, presenters will engage in an interactive, panel-style discussion and Q&A session with the audience.
References
Collins, PH. (2000). Black Feminist Thought. Routledge.
Dombroski, K., Healy, S., & McKinnon, K. (2018). Care-full community economies. In Feminist political ecology and the economics of care (pp. 99-115). Routledge.
Elmhirst, R. (2015). Feminist political ecology. The Routledge handbook of gender and development, 519-530.
Gibson-Graham, J. K., Cameron, J., & Healy, S. (2013). Take back the economy: An ethical guide for transforming our communities. U of Minnesota Press.
Kendall, M. (2021). Hood feminism: notes from the women that a movement forgot. Penguin Press.
McKane, R.G., Greiner, P.T. and Pellow, D. (2023), Mutual Aid as a Praxis for Critical Environmental Justice: Lessons from W.E.B. Du Bois, Critical Theoretical Perspectives, and Mobilising Collective Care in Disasters. Antipode.
Neely, A. H., & Lopez, P. J. (2022). Toward healthier futures in post-pandemic times: Political ecology, racial capitalism, and black feminist approaches to care. Geography Compass, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12609
Ojeda, D., Nirmal, P., Rocheleau, D., & Emel, J. (2022). Feminist Ecologies. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 47, 149-171.
Rocheleau, D., Thomas-Slayter, B., & Wangari, E. (Eds.). (2013). Feminist political ecology: Global issues and local experience. Routledge.
Organizers: Elizabeth Riedman & Lindsay Campbell
Please submit abstracts to Elizabeth Riedman at eriedman@temple.edu by 15 December 2023.
Modality: Virtual