Format/Structure

We invite papers or creative engagements for ideally a double session, if we receive enough submissions

Long Abstract

Emotions – from feelings of fear at lived experiences of injustices, to hope felt in the crafting of peaceful alternatives – are central to the discipline, practice and purpose of political ecology. Emotions shape interactions, influence experiences and intersect with power dynamics to either reinforce or resist hegemonies; offering insight into how inequalities are maintained or contested. Emotions can also act as pathways for transformation; building hope, providing counter-narratives to dominant paradigms, and foregrounding overlooked histories and lived experiences that forge new ways of seeing and doing.

Yet, emotions are often ignored or undervalued – including within political ecology – despite rich histories and contributions from feminist writers, emotional geographies and development scholars, and those leading the growing sub-field of emotional political ecologies (González-Hidalgo & Zografos 2022, Gururani 2002, Mahanty et al. 2023, Nightingale 2011, Singh 2018, Sultana 2015, Sultana 2011, Trogisch 2023). This work draws attention to the significance of our emotions as researchers and activists too, in humanising our relationships with those we work and seek to build ethical partnerships with (Eriksen 2022).

Centring of emotions offers huge potential for the more transformatory futures to which this conference (and political ecology more broadly) is aligned. We welcome paper abstracts/creative contributions that foreground emotions in political ecology, including but not restricted to the following:

• Translating theories and concepts of emotions into methodological and analytical choices and practices

• Arts-based and creative approaches to engaging emotions

• Centring emotions with multiple others, including not only e.g. IPLCs but also policy-makers, practitioners and other professionals, as well as more-than-human others

• The significance of emotions for critical reflexivity as researchers and activists

• The relevance of emotions to the ethics of research relationships and partnerships

• The potential of centring emotions for transformative futures and practices of hope

This Panel has 18 pending paper proposals.
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