Dear Colleagues, One more potential ISA panel for you to consider. Viola Provost and I are putting together a panel exploring the consequences of humanity’s growing dependence on the internet for environmental governance. If you or your students are writing about social media, AI, or big tech and the environment, then we want to hear from you. Email me by May 24 if you’re interested: hamish.vander...@ubc.ca<mailto:hamish.vander...@ubc.ca>.
Panel: Implications of Digitalization for Environmental Governance Abstract: Two parallel forces are combining to reshape environmental governance in the twenty-first century. The first is the narrowing timeframe for action to resolve some of the most urgent environmental challenges, including: climate change, fisheries collapse, and biodiversity loss. The second is the digitalization of society, referring to the restructuring of social, political, and economic life around digital communication and media infrastructures, principally the internet. These two forces are linked, yet the implications of humanity’s internet dependence on environmental governance have rarely been studied. The objective of this panel is to bring together research that asks: what are the consequences, good and bad, of digitalization for environmental governance? Some potential topics include: what biases exist in artificial intelligence characterizations of global environmental challenges? How do social media platforms affect political values related to the environment? And how is the political economy of ‘big tech’ reshaping environmental governance? This panel will bring together a range of theoretical perspectives and research methods to consider these questions. From: <gep-ed@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Kate Neville <kate.nevi...@utoronto.ca> Reply-To: "kate.nevi...@utoronto.ca" <kate.nevi...@utoronto.ca> Date: Monday, May 13, 2024 at 10:46 AM To: GEPED <gep-ed@googlegroups.com> Cc: Shardul Tiwari <s.tiw...@utoronto.ca>, Kate Neville <kate.nevi...@utoronto.ca> Subject: [gep-ed] Re: ISA 2025 proposed panel - CfP for "Critical perspectives on carbon lock-in" [CAUTION: Non-UBC Email] Dear colleagues, Adding to the chorus of those proposing panels for the International Studies Association meeting in Chicago in March 2025. Shardul Tiwari and I are organizing a panel on carbon lock-in and carbon-related technologies, and are putting out a call for papers. As many of you know, ISA panels need 5 papers, a chair and a discussant. Paper proposals should have a title (50 words max), an author list (names, emails, affiliations), and an abstract (200 words max). Proposals are due by June 1, so please be in touch with us by email (to kate.nevi...@utoronto.ca<mailto:kate.nevi...@utoronto.ca> and s.tiw...@utoronto.ca<mailto:s.tiw...@utoronto.ca>) by Friday, May 18 with expressions of interest to participate in this panel (even if you don’t have a finalized abstract, let me know if you’re interested!). To submit a proposal, all authors must have an ISA account (these are free to register for); if the panel is accepted, panelists must register for the conference (you can register as a non-member, or become an ISA member and get member prices for conference registration – note there is a sliding scale for registration and membership depending on your career stage and income). And a note on the topic of the panel: this brief abstract doesn’t indicate this, but of course these ideas on carbon lock-in, decarbonization pathways, climate delay as denial, ownership structures for technology, and more draw on the work many of you have been doing for a long time! We’re looking forward to continuing and building on these conversations. Panel title: Critical perspectives on carbon lock-in: Capture, storage, and fuel synthesis technologies in energy transitions Panel abstract: At present, most carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies are being developed and used to improve emissions intensity of production or extend the life of oil and gas wells. The critical social science research suggests that the current trajectories and projected uses of these technologies will prolong fossil fuel dependence, reinforce the incumbent power of the fossil fuel industry, and delay climate action. However, theoretically, there are possibilities for carbon capture, storage, conversion, and re-use pathways that could disentangle the ongoing use of hydrocarbons from fossil fuel extraction. The technological promise is that fuel synthesis could enable longer-term renewable energy storage and could decouple hard-to-transition sectors from their reliance on new extraction. Is this just another incremental improvement that locks in carbon-intensive futures? Can changing the systems of governance or the ownership of technology or the sites of technological experimentation provide pathways for these technologies to support or enable more transformative energy futures? Do these anticipated circular carbon economies disrupt fossil fuels but create other social and environmental harm? This panel explores these questions. All best, Kate ------- Dr. Kate J. Neville Associate Professor, Political Science and School of the Environment University of Toronto kate.nevi...@utoronto.ca<mailto:kate.nevi...@utoronto.ca> ** Forthcoming book: Going to Seed: Essays on Idleness, Nature, and Sustainable Work ** Winner of the inaugural Sowell Emerging Writers Prize<https://www.terrain.org/submit/sowell-prize/> In the US: 9781682832035, May 2024, Texas Tech University Press<https://www.ttupress.org/9781682832035/going-to-seed/> In Canada: 9781779400000, May 2024, University of Regina Press<https://uofrpress.ca/Books/G/Going-to-Seed> Pre-order from your local independent bookstore<https://shoplocal.bookmanager.com/isbn/9781779400000>, TTUP<https://ttu.secure.longleafservices.org/cart?isbn=9781682832035>, or URP<https://uofrpress.ca/Books/G/Going-to-Seed>! Also available on Indigo<https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/going-to-seed-questions-of-idleness-nature-and-sustainable-work/9781779400000.html> and Amazon<https://www.amazon.ca/Going-Seed-Questions-Idleness-Sustainable/dp/1779400004/>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<mailto:gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/9F93C2EB-D90B-46F5-B160-1D34F978EE66%40gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/9F93C2EB-D90B-46F5-B160-1D34F978EE66%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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