“Political Ecologies Today. 3 Africa”

Editor: Estienne Rodary (IRD and University of the Witwatersrand)

Nearly 40 years after the Stockholm Conference on the human environment, environmental discourses seem to enter into political action without being able to radically transform the development trajectories of contemporary societies. Globalized capitalism persists in its historical expansion, in spite of the accumulation of evidence of the destructiveness of such development, and despite a remarkable diversity of experiences across the world that reveal the importance of ecologically-sound systems.

The Copenhagen Conference on global change demonstrated once again the incapacity of the economic and political system to be reworked. In its aftermath, thoughts and engagements at the edge of politics and ecology are being called on more than ever to answer present and future issues.
The strategic goal of such “political ecologies” seems to have two dimensions, a negative one toward extinction, and a correlatively positive one of building collective and political tools for a common life.

With the purpose of participating in these debates, the journal Ecologie & Politique is undertaking a series on “political ecologies” in the world today.
The series aims at presenting an international overview of the various domains of what can be called “political ecologies”, with a particular attention to local, national, regional or continental specificities.
The goal of the series is to contribute to the dialogue and exchange between the fields and interests that constitute the galaxy of different political ecologies, in order to open up a true politics of the Anthropocene.

The series will address in particular the following questions:

- What are the specific trajectories and scales of the various political ecologies? What have been the links between these trajectories and other related fields and historical experiences?

- What are the field, thoughts and movements that have participated in the development of the different political ecologies? Does the designation of a unique “political ecology” make sense in such diverse contexts?

- What have been the connections between these thoughts and public engagement, be it direct action, institutional involvement, or artistic, cultural, or social movements?

- What kind of assessment can be drawn after 40 years of scientific production, experiences and actions in the different areas of political ecologies?

- What prospects and political horizons can we imagine for the future of the political ecologies? What answers can the political ecologies bring to the current crisis?

The series will be divided by continent, but each article can engage in any kind of space or type of research, political engagement or experience, to the extent that these fit into the questions listed above.

The articles can be written in French, English, Portuguese or Spanish, and will be translated into French by the journal editors.

The articles would be no more that 35 000 characters (or 5000 words), including spaces and bibliography.

The guidelines for authors can be downloaded here: http://www.ecologie-et-politique.info/?Recommandations-aux-auteurs/

Deadline for abstract: October 15, 2010.

Deadline for manuscript submissions: December 31, 2010.

Abstracts and manuscripts must be sent to redaction@ecologie-et-politique.info