We are all painfully aware of the backwardness of so many environmentalists when it comes to addressing the animal question, or even when it comes to just recognizing the environmental impact of animal agriculture and other forms of animal exploitation. The fact is, unless those who care about animals start to make their presence known, the environmental movement is apparently going to continue to ignore the vast majority of the inhabitants of the very environment it is working so hard to save.
If you are interested in working to rectify this situation, here are two calls for papers for interdisciplinary environmental conferences that might be amenable to contributions concerning animals.
The first is from the Interdisciplinary Environmental Association, which is looking for contributions for the 16th International Interdisciplinary Conference on the Environment, which will be held in Tucson in September. The range of participation is very broad:
The conference welcomes environmental practitioners, academics, and interested colleagues regardless of discipline or country. Participants may organize sessions …, present papers, participate in poster sessions, chair sessions, discuss papers, participate in round-table discussions, or simply observe. The conference also welcomes papers and posters submitted by students, both graduate and undergraduate.
Unsurprisingly, none of the topics listed as the (non-exclusive) focus of the conference specifically references animals, but a number of them are absolutely begging for a discussion of the impact of animal agriculture and food choices on the environment, including: “Water in a Thirsty World; Environmental Impacts of Tourism; Latin American Environmental Issues; Policy, Economics, and Climate Change; Campus Environmental Initiatives; and The Economics of Sustainability.”
The second conference is a huge opportunity for academics interested in marine life (also known, to those of an exploitative nature, as “sea food”). It will be held by the European Society for Environmental History in Turku, Finland, from June 28 to July 2, 2011. The theme of the conference will be “Encounters of Sea and Land,” and suggested topics include the “History of man-animal relationship, food supply and biodiversity” and the “History of whaling, fishing and overfishing.” Like the other conference, this one is open to scholars of all disciplines and backgrounds.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/ / CC BY 2.0