AAG Annual Meeting CFP
Chicago, IL, April 21-25th – 2015
Reconfigurations of the State in an Era of Global Climate Change
Paper Session
Organizer:
Alejandro Camargo (Department of Geography, Syracuse University)
Discussant:
Christian Parenti (Global Liberal Studies, New York University)
Global climate change is increasingly creating a generalized condition of insecurity, uncertainty, and unending crisis. Elevated temperatures and sea levels, intense droughts, fires, torrential rains, and a distressed atmosphere threatened by carbon emissions are among the myriad socio-ecological disruptions that constitute an imminent planetary crisis. In some places this global crisis has given rise to new forms of political, economic, and environmental conflicts. In others, however, it has exacerbated already existing inequalities, vulnerabilities, and unequal power relations. A number of authors have pointed out how these situations of disruption and crisis have become key scenarios for the reproduction of capital. Private companies, investors, and the humanitarian aid industry often capitalize on social suffering and environmental crises to increase their revenues. Furthermore, recent scholarship has also revealed how climate-related crises are increasingly connected to the intensification of violence and civil conflicts. The role of the state in this scenario, however, has received short shrift. Emergencies and crises generally demand the intervention of the state, which is expected to step in and provide solutions. These critical situations are strategic opportunities for the reconfiguration of the state in which states can become stronger or weaker. During climate catastrophes, states often attempt to reform their institutions, mobilize their bureaucracies, create different forms of territorial control, reaffirm their sovereignty, and implement far-reaching—and sometimes undesirable—interventions in affected communities and landscapes. This session aims at bringing together papers that broadly address the reconfigurations of the state in times of global climate change.
If you are interested in taking part of this paper session please send your abstract (250 words max) to Alejandro Camargo (facamarg@syr.edu) by October 15th, 2014.