This is a call for papers for a session entitled 'River stories: cultures and politics of waterways in an era of climate change', to be held at the Institute of Australian Geographers annual conference, University of Wollongong, 3rd-6th July 2011.

Session organisers: Leah Gibbs (leah_gibbs@uow.edu.au) and Emily O’Gorman (emilyo@uow.edu.au)

Rivers are the focus of cultural practice and intense political debate. This session is concerned with the cultures and politics of rivers, and the stories we tell about them. We invite papers that examine rivers and river stories from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives, including field, archival, and theoretical approaches from geography, history, politics and cultural studies, among others. Of particular interest is how the cultures and politics of rivers are shaped by climate change and climate change discourse. Papers may address a specific part or multiple aspects of the session theme.

We welcome, among other topics, studies of:
-Specific river politics
-Histories of waterways at or across a variety of scales
-The effect of climate change and climate change discourse on the cultures or politics of waterways
-Methodological considerations of the role of story-telling in shaping cultures of rivers
-The role of rivers in shaping human relations with nonhuman others
-Governance of water or waterways in an era of climate change
-Multi-disciplinary methods for cultural river research

Please a) submit your abstract directly, via email, to the session organisers, by March 1; and, b) when our online abstract submission goes ‘live’ you should ALSO submit your abstract online, ticking the session for which you wish to be considered. (An email will be sent to the IAG email list as soon as the online abstract submission goes ‘live’ on the conference website).