Short Abstract:

We aim to explore how hegemonic framings of climate neutrality politics define urgencies and preclude alternatives. Can unwriting challenge political hegemony and open up new pathways for a just transition? What role do our disciplines play in uncovering the untold aspects of climate neutrality?

Long Abstract:

Climate neutrality policies, such as the European Green Deal, are imbued with a normative stance on priorities and urgencies. These policies produce and sustain hegemonic knowledge that binds together diverse actors, socializing them to use a particular vocabulary to remain relevant in the field. This normative framing writes specific – selective and limiting – meanings into concepts such as climate neutrality and justice. As a result, these policies define certain urgencies while disregarding others, reflecting asymmetries and legacies that exist in society at large.

The proposed panel aims to critically examine the hegemonic knowledge embedded in climate neutrality policies, explore the practices of unwriting in this field, uncover alternative urgencies and pathways to climate justice, and discuss the potential new injustices and inequalities that unwriting might entail. We want to highlight the role of ethnology and public anthropology in the endeavour of unwriting and to stimulate a nuanced discussion that considers both the potential benefits and drawbacks of unwriting in the field of climate neutrality policies.

We invite proposals that:

• examine movements that challenge the dominant narratives on climate neutrality;

• identify urgencies that are overlooked in mainstream policies;

• bring to light the unwritten and untold aspects of climate neutrality;

• scrutinize new ways of inscribing knowledge about climate neutrality;

• develop new and inclusive vocabularies;

• discuss the potential threats inherent in the processes of unwriting;

• reflect on our potentiality and agency in unwriting this field.

Propose paper