Visitors to this site may be interested in a recently-issued call for papers for the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, which will be held between the 8th and 12th of April 2014 in Tampa, Florida.
Operationalizing the geo-energy space
Sponsored by the Energy and Environment Specialty Group of the AAG
Organizers:
- Stefan Bouzarovski (University of Manchester)
- Nazmiye Balta-Ozkan (University of Westminster)
Recent years have seen a resurgence of efforts to provide novel perspectives on the ways in which nature and society are interlinked via multiple and vibrant materialities (Bennett 2010). The notion of the ‘geo-social’ has been used to explore some of the connections that can be identified in this context, emphasizing the need for a new politics of responsibility and justice. At the same time, the emergence of ‘energy geographies’ as a distinct disciplinary field is helping foreground new explanations of the hydrocarbon circulations and consumption practices that underpin planetary challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity.
In this session, we hope to connect these two distinct developments in order to scrutinize the materially contingent nature of contemporary circulations and assemblages in the energy domain. Following on from Mañé Estrada (2006) we us. While Mañé Estrada’s original conceptualization primarily refers to large-scale geopolitical relations, this session aims to extend the idea to a wider range of spatial scales and material sites, so as to highlight the diverse ways in which anthropogenic energy flows are both predicated by, and themselves shape, the geophysical environment. Papers in the session can include, but are not limited to:
- Energy landscapes: Using the framework to explain relations beyond its conventional origins – in spaces such as the home, community or the city;
- Low-carbon technologies: How do differences between, for example, urban and rural locations, account for different social practices and patterns of energy use (both on the supply side – e.g. microgeneration and off-grid communities – and in terms of demand: heat pumps, electric vehicles etc.);
- Energy infrastructure: What is the agency of non-human actors in shaping the evolution of current patterns of energy delivery, as well as new developments such as unconventional oil and gas exploitation?
- Trans-disciplinary and integrated thinking: How can we obtain a better understanding of the implications of changes in energy use patterns and demand on the agency and positionality of non-human actors, and vice versa?
Papers from across the discipline are welcome: We aim to open the path for the exchange of insights and discussions between different fields of study. The deadline for submitting abstracts (in line with the AAG’s guidelines) is the 15th of October 2013. Please send abstracts to stefan.bouzarovski@manchester.ac.uk and n.ozkan@psi.org.uk.
People and Energy Collective 