International #Conference on #Literature and #Ecology-SRM University- March 2024

LITERATURE AND ECOLOGY

Concept Note

In an era marked by escalating environmental concerns and a pressing need for sustainable coexistence with the natural world, the study of literature through the lens of ecology has gained significance. Ecocriticism, as an interdisciplinary field, explores the intricate relationships between literature, culture, and the environment, offering valuable insights into how human beings perceive, interact with, and represent the natural world in their creative expressions. The proposed conference aims to delve deep into the multifaceted dimensions of ecocritical approaches to literature, fostering discussions that illuminate the symbiotic connection between artistic imagination and ecological consciousness.

The ecocritical approach recognizes the power of literature to shape perceptions and attitudes towards ecology – the environment, environmental ethics, activism, and policy-making. Analyzing the ways in which nature is portrayed, celebrated, exploited, or lamented in literary works, scholars can unravel the ecological, social, and philosophical implications of these representations. The proposed conference will provide a platform for academics, researchers, and enthusiasts to explore key themes that discuss the following issues:

1. Nature as Character and Metaphor: How does literature personify nature, attributing human-like qualities to natural entities? How do ecological metaphors and symbols enrich our understanding of environmental issues?
2. Wilderness and Urban Landscapes: Investigate depictions of wilderness and urban environments in literature. What do these portrayals reveal about the human-nature relationship and the impacts of urbanization?
3. Environmental Justice: Examine narratives that address environmental inequalities, marginalized communities, and the socio-economic implications of ecological degradation.
4. Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi): Explore the emerging genre of climate fiction, analyzing how authors envision and convey potential futures shaped by climate change.
5. Eco-spirituality and Indigenous Knowledge: Delve into the spiritual connections between humans and the natural world, drawing from indigenous knowledge systems and cultural perspectives.
6. Ecofeminism: Discuss the intersections between gender, ecology, and literature, exploring how feminist perspectives contribute to ecological discourse.
7. Postcolonial Ecocriticism: Analyze how colonial legacies influence literary representations of landscapes, resource exploitation, and the indigenous relationship with nature.
8. Ecopoetics: Study the aesthetic dimensions of eco-poetry and eco-prose, considering how literary forms and techniques engage with ecological themes.
9. Theoretical Considerations: Explore and critique the contribution of theorists on the subject of Ecocriticism, Literature and Ecology, and Nature Writing.
10. Specific authors and their texts.

 

This conference seeks to foster an inclusive and diverse dialogue, inviting scholars from literature, environmental studies, philosophy, cultural studies, and related fields to participate in a stimulating environment, examining literary texts from different historical periods, genres, and cultural contexts. Participants will contribute to a nuanced understanding of humanity's evolving relationship with the natural world. Through critical analysis and discussion, the seminar aims to unearth the transformative potential of literature in shaping ecological awareness and inspiring sustainable action.

Paper proposals are invited that engage with these thematic areas and encourage innovative interpretations, comparative analyses, and interdisciplinary explorations. Fostering collaboration and sharing insights, the seminar aspires to illuminate the ways in which ecocritical approaches to literature contribute to our collective efforts in nurturing a more ecologically conscious and harmonious world.

 

How to submit your abstract:

Abstracts of about 200-250 words are invited on panels 1-10 listed above. Please follow the following format:

 

Panel under which the abstract may be considered (1 to 10):

Mode of presentation: online (for delegates from outside India) or in person?

Is ppt required? Yes or No:

Name of the participant:

Designation and Affiliation:

Email id:

Title of the abstract:

The abstract in 200-250 words

Keywords (4-5):

 

Note:

1. The seminar will be hosted by SRM University, Delhi-NCR, Sonepat, India.
2. This will be a hybrid event. Participants from outside India will make their presentations online.
3. Participants from India will attend the seminar in person.
4. Details regarding Registration fee/accommodation will be sent along with the acceptance letters. For (online) participants from abroad there will be no fee.
5. Full papers will be invited before the seminar.
6. Selected papers will go into a volume to be published by Springer.

 Mail your abstracts by Nov 15, 2023, to ency.iwie@gmail.com with a copy to melusmelow@gmail.com

Important Deadlines:

Announcement: October 20, 2023

Deadline for Abstracts: November 15, 2023

Acceptance letters to be sent by: November 30, 2023

Full papers due by: January 30, 2024.

Proposed conference dates: 2-3 March 2024

MANJU JAIDKA (Prof), Director of Humanities

SRM University, Delhi-NCR, Sonepat, India

GIAN WOrkshop on Two Karls are Better than One!!! Capitalism, Crisis, Critique On Ecology, Democracy and Social Reproduction March 19-23, 2018, JNU

Overview 

Capitalism is an institutionalised social order and not merely an economic order.Such an understanding of capitalism foregrounds the constitutive institutional complex that underlies the logic of primitive accumulation that broke up social and customary rights and transferred control of resources to owners of capital. Through a complex (and spatially differentiated) process, the market emerged as the central allocator of the societal surplus, which in turn also structured many of the supportive social and political institutions. However, this process was constituted by the continued existence of non-market exchange mechanisms (such as social reproduction), without which the pursuit of the endless accumulation of capital could not have survived. Alongside, the process of capital accumulation also created conditions of emancipatory politics, often led by organised labour – the process evocatively described by Karl Polyani as the Double Movement. However, this process – many aspects of which are the subject matter of intense academic debate – does not adequately lend itself to an analysis of contemporary capitalism. Contemporary capitalism is at a distinct stage in its evolution, characterised by an expansion in its economic logic with a simultaneous contraction of the politicosocial processes of expansion of individual rights and entitlements. The fundamental factor in this is the shift from production to finance, which has led to a host of changes in the relations of production worldwide, leading to numerous dysfunctions – political, social, economic, financial, ecological – referred to in the

literature as the crises of contemporary capitalism. 


Besides, changes in the relations of production under contemporary capitalism have been expressed as the transformation of organised labour  into a precarious and informalised body of workers without the solidarity to lead the kind of emancipatory politics witnessed in the past century. Further, the vast majority of political leadership across the ideological spectrum seem to endorse neoliberal markets, which in turn is likely to destroy the bases of the social reproduction of capitalism itself. Protests in the form of social movements however seem to lack the solidaristic coalescence necessary to fulfil the role of organised labour of yore.

These processes have collectively been seen as a crisis of capitalism and are the subject matter of an emerging re-interrogation of the complex dynamics of capitalism. However, extant literature is marked by a relative paucity of robust critical social theory that could offer a thoroughgoing understanding of this crisis. Contemporary explanations privilege economic processes with only relatively marginal attention to the novel forms of political processes and idioms of social conflict engendered in the process, pre-eminent among which are contestations over public power, nature, and forms of social reproduction, aside from labour. 

Furthermore, new axes of inequality have emerged including nationality, race,ethnicity, religion, sexuality, class and identity, to which the extant models focussed on labour struggles are unable to provide a reliable analytical guide.  

Objectives:

To encourage critical engagements with the nature and character of contemporary crisis of capitalism.

- To offer a platform for postgraduate and research students to think collectively from a variety of theoretical and empirical vantage points.

- To construct an epistemological community to draw in a variety of experiences to reflect and theorise on the complexity of capitalism in its contemporary avatar in both, India and the world. 

Who  Can Attend

A maximum of 50 participants on a first come basis: Postgraduate students,

Research students & Faculty members of recognised academic institutions

Registration Fees*

•  JNU Masters Students: FREE

•  JNU Research Students (M.Phil. and Ph.D.): Rs. 1,000

•  JNU Faculty: Rs. 2,000

•  Other educational Institutions Research Students: Rs. 2,000

•  Other educational Institutions Faculty: Rs. 4,000

•  Other Government Institutions: Rs. 10,000

•  Industry and Private Institutions: Rs. 15,000

•  Participants from outside India: US$ 500

*Does not cover travel or accommodation.

Advance registration required at:

http://www.gian.iitkgp.ac.in/GREGN;

and

http://gianregister.jnu.ac.in  

Host Faculty
Prof. Amit PrakashEmail: amit@jnu.ac.in Prof. Niraja Gopal Jayal mail: ngj@jnu.ac.in
Centre for the Study of Law and Governance Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi - 110 067