HomeCrises in the Americas

Crises in the Americas

Crises dans les Amériques

Crisis en las Américas

Crises nas Américas

Revue « RITA » N°16

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Published on Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Abstract

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Crises are generally understood as undesirable, unexpected and contingent situations. In this issue of RITA, we wish to question the production of these phenomena that are calledcrises, from “laissez-faire” to “negligence”; from the banalization of the crisis in media oracademic discourse to the enunciation processes of public authorities. In “times of crises”, theywill justify more directly the imposition of social, economic or even military measures.

Announcement

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Argument

Crises are generally understood as undesirable, unexpected and contingent situations. However, for several years, experts and researchers have been interested in their production. Do human societies, financial sectors, companies or even States produce crises? (Chobeaux et al. 2017). According to common definitions, a crisis refers to a shortage, a difficult moment in human life and social organization, a situation of disorder or the breakdown of an equilibrium.

In this issue of RITA, we wish to question the production of these phenomena that are called crises, from "laissez-faire" to "negligence"; from the banalization of the crisis in media or academic discourse to the enunciation processes of public authorities. In "times of crises", they will justify more directly the imposition of social, economic or even military measures. This is the case, for example, of evictions and the dismantling of shanty towns (Aguilera, Bouillon, Lamotte, 2018) or the provision of law enforcement forces to mining companies whose activity is threatened or slowed down by social conflicts (Hervé-Huamaní, 2021).

The Covid-19 crisis has had and will continue to have an impact on our ways of thinking and doing research. The fields, which have become partly inaccessible "in person", will undoubtedly have increased the importance of what the followers of qualitative methods have always rejected: "data". Thus, in daily work at the university, in transport or in family organization, precarious logistics have been put in place. Often adopted in a hurry, the new organizations of our daily temporalities have overlapped dimensions that we have constantly tried to distinguish: work time is invading the family cocoon and the children are inviting themselves into crucial meetings. At the individual level, the crisis – which is fed, illustrated, relayed, and formalized by a number of experts, decision-makers, and national and global media – has restructured daily organizations. Two years after its official appearance, the Covid-19 crisis still has an echo on the education of children and university students, on the organization of work, or even on leisure time, and we still do not know the more global impacts that all these "waves of Covid" have left on the social, political, economic or symbolic levels. Through the crisis, we also want to look at how it resonates, and the ways in which crises continue to "live" in discourses, in organizations, in representations, and even in dreams. These times of global pandemic and lockdowns have also given wings to black humor on social networks. According to the words of Bruno Latour and many others, this crisis must also be used to better think about our social organizations and our relationship with the living beings, but also to question our citizen and consumer practices. The lockdowns and paralysis of polluting human activities have also shown what degrowth can produce, thus feeding the debate on the environmental crisis and the more critical discourses in favor of "inventing an art of dismantling" (Monin, Landivar, Bonnet, 2021).

If the pandemic and the lockdowns have motivated us to devote this issue of RITA to crises, we want to take advantage of this still latent and uncertain context to think about the crisis in a broad dimension. Russia's invasion of Ukraine – and the many global consequences in terms of energy, diplomacy and availability of raw materials – is an incentive to do so. Rising inflation, a phenomenon well known to the countries of the South, is now putting the world under stress.

In the Americas, Chile's social and political crisis has faded after the major riots of 2019 and the sustained popular demand for constitutional change. It is now Peru that is coming to the forefront with a deep political crisis, exacerbated since the election of Pedro Castillo, but which is only the illustration of a deeper political, economic and social crisis. More broadly, from the local to the global level, whether the enunciation of a crisis situation is social, religious, political or financial, or whether it affects the world of publishing, cinema, science or architecture, it is often a tacit call for change or even revolution. Although our attention has been caught up for two years by "the" crisis, we have been able to observe that the reflections it has engendered have pushed us to broaden our perspectives and our projections for the future: themes linked to the environmental crisis, to consumption patterns, and to extractivist economies are increasingly soliciting the interest of the citizenry, even if the political lines are not moving any further.

"The" crisis should not hide the others! Indeed, if the global crisis has not erased the national and local crises, it has undoubtedly exacerbated them. We therefore hope that this issue will allow us to look at the political and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, the ecological and human crisis in the Amazon, the recent political crises in Chile, Ecuador, Peru or Colombia, or in the United States (for example after the invasion of the Capitol in January 2021), or the Truck Movement in Canada more recently.

But are crises just about numbers and rhetoric on a national or global scale? We also want to focus on local crises, those that remain invisible to public authorities, or that the latter contribute to making invisible. These crises are less significant financially, considered less important socially, or made invisible by the subaltern culture of those who suffer them. For example, how do Brazilian indigenous peoples perceive the permanent pressure of large industrialists on their historical spaces? What about the situation with the government of Jair Bolsonaro? What are the crises of the subordinated populations? How do they talk about it and how do they live it? We will also be able to question the resonance of large development projects that involve forced displacements of people. These crises are generated by projects that are considered virtuous.

We can indeed wonder about the effects of large-scale development projects on the organization and economy, but also on the perceptions, discourses and dreamlike representations of the local populations, often peasants or indigenous people. If the crisis is not explicitly stated at the local level, is it not simply experienced? How is it then evoked by the population? How is it perceived by researchers and what methodological procedures allow us to perceive it? Pascale Absi (2010) shows, for example, how Bolivian cooperative miners – who were the victims of the 2008 financial crisis – have learned to "deal with" a situation of prolonged crisis in their sector. The protracted crisis here becomes a "normalized" economic situation, integrated into everyday individual and family strategies. What these miners now consider to be the "real" crisis is related to vital capacities, to illness or death.

What resources do actors mobilize to overcome the difficulties of "crises" conditions, to bypass them, or to ignore them? While individuals and institutions are most often enjoined to be resilient in order to move forward, the "deal with it" answer undoubtedly expresses in a more pragmatic way the real capacities of social or political responses to a utopian “return to normalcy”, provided that this is truly desired.

Finally, in this issue, we will be interested in understanding how crises are prepared or anticipated: survivalists have certainly never been so confident in their "preparation" as they are today, between Covid, global geopolitics and climate change. We want to explore how crises are predicted or explained in the field of religious beliefs, sects or witchcraft (Ballet, Dumbi, Lallau, 2009) but also through sciences or algorithms; how they are deplored or how they are "healed" in the religious, political or social field. Once stated, how are they elaborated when they are used as arguments for new political decisions? How are they formed when they are provoked by political decisions over time rather than by climatic hazards? What about these crises, in retrospect described as "necessary" by some actors, which lead to unprecedented citizen mobilizations or student revolutions? Who acts and what is at stake in these crises? Finally, how are they "readable" by the population and by researchers?

The current situation of Covid-19, which inspires this issue, raises many questions about the crises that are sometimes referred to as "announced catastrophes"; there are many discursive regimes that apply to the fields of health, sports, national championships, teaching, research, or to the editorial market.

Submission guidelines

Thus, on its sixteenth issue, RITA proposes to explore the crises in the Americas through the different approaches mentioned in this call.

The journal is divided into two parts. The first one (the thematic one) welcomes different types of contributions directly related to the theme of the issue.

The other (the non-thematic part) welcomes different types of contributions that do not correspond to the theme of the issue, like a varia.

For both parts, thematic (Thema) and non-thematic (Champ libre), the expected texts must respect the following criteria:

THEMA

The Dossier welcomes unpublished academic articles, clearly organized and presenting an empirical and/or theoretical coherence (maximum of 50,000 characters in the document, including spaces).

Articles may be written in French, English, Spanish or Portuguese.

They must be accompanied by an abstract (1000 characters maximum) written in two languages, and 3 to 5 keywords.

  • Research Notes (Notes de recherche) are articles presenting a research or a reflection in progress, whose subject corresponds directly to the theme of the issue. However, they must include a problematic, present a clear and detailed methodology and take the form of a scientific reflection (40 000 characters maximum in the document, including spaces).
  • Abstracts of master's or doctoral theses (Résumés de mémoire ou de thèse) give visibility to the most recent research in a concise version (maximum of 25,000 characters in the document, including spaces). Abstracts directly related to the theme of the issue will be published in the THEMA section.
  • The Research Syntheses (Synthèses de recherche) offer reviews of recently published works on American themes (maximum 35,000 characters in the document, including spaces). Syntheses directly related to the theme of the issue will be published in this section.
  • The Meetings (Rencontres) give the opportunity to publish (unpublished) interviews with researchers, experts, political actors, activists, media, or artistic actors. (40 000 signs maximum in the document, spaces included).

CHAMP LIBRE (Open Field)

Non-thematic articles (Varia): this section welcomes unpublished academic articles, clearly organized and presenting an empirical and/or theoretical coherence (maximum of 50,000 characters in the document, including spaces). These articles are not directly related to the theme of the issue.

Articles may be written in French, English, Spanish or Portuguese.

They must be accompanied by an abstract (1000 characters maximum) written in two languages, and 3 to 5 keywords.

  • Research Notes (Notes de recherche) are articles presenting a research or a reflection in progress, whose subject does not correspond to the theme of the issue. However, they must include a problematic, present a clear and detailed methodology and take the form of a scientific reflection (40 000 characters maximum in the document, including spaces).
  • The objective of the Research Factory (Fabrique de la recherche) is to raise methodological questions or to deal specifically with theoretical tools (maximum 15,000 characters in the document, including spaces).
  • Dissertation Abstracts (Master or PhD) (Résumés de mémoire ou de these) are intended to give visibility to the most recent research in a concise version (maximum 25,000 characters in the document, including spaces). Abstracts that are not directly related to the theme of the issue will be published in the Open Field section.
  • The Research Syntheses (Synthèses de recherche) section offers reviews of recently published works on American themes (maximum 35,000 characters in the document, including spaces).
  • A look on the Americas (Regards sur les Ameriques) offers the opportunity to publish texts whose expression and form are freer, such as accounts of field experiences, personal reflections on a particular theme or object of study, or literary analyses (maximum 30,000 characters in the document, including spaces).
  • The Meetings (Rencontres) offer the possibility of publishing (unpublished) interviews with researchers, experts, political actors, activists, media or artistic actors. (40,000 characters maximum in the document, including spaces). In the Champ libre section, the interviews will not be directly related to the theme of the issue.

Complete articles that respect the standards of the chosen rubric (for more details, consult: http://www.revue-rita.com/note-aux-auteurs/normes-de-presentation.html) are expected at the following address: revue.rita@gmail.com

until January 30th 2023.

We remind you that the papers can be written in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

A first selection of the texts will be made by the Editorial Committee which will inform the authors of the acceptance or refusal of their article during the month of February 2023.

Subsequently, the texts selected for the Thema and Champ libre sections will be evaluated by anonymous readers. Articles may be rejected or accepted with or without modifications.

Issue 16 of RITA will be published during the fourth trimester of 2023.

We remind you that articles must be unpublished and cannot be submitted simultaneously to other journals.

Scientific committee

  • Armony Victor Professeur (titulaire), Département de sociologie et Chaire de recherche du Canada en mondialisation, citoyenneté et démocratie, Université du Québec à Montréal.
  • Boidin Capucine Maître de conférences, Anthropologie, IHEAL (Paris 3) - CREDA
  • Brochier Christophe Maître de conférences en Sociologie, Université de Paris 8.
  • Cohen James Professeur en Sciences Politiques, Université de Paris 3.
  • Compagnon Olivier Maître de conférences en Histoire, IHEAL (Paris 3) - CREDA / IUF.
  • Couffignal Georges Professeur émérite en Sciences Politiques (Paris 3) - CREDA.
  • Dumoulin David Maître de conférences en Sociologie, IHEAL (Paris 3) - CREDA.
  • Foyer Jean Chargé de recherche en Sociologie, Institut des Sciences de la Communication du CNRS.
  • Fregosi Renée Maître de conférences en Sciences Politiques, IHEAL (Paris 3) - CREDA.
  • Girault Christian Directeur de recherche émérite au CNRS en Géopolitique et Relations Internationales, IHEAL (Paris 3) - CREDA.
  • Gros Christian Professeur émérite en  Sociologie, IHEAL (Paris 3) - CREDA.
  • Lacroix Laurent Coordinateur scientifique de l'unité de recherche "Gouvernance et Genre en Amérique latine" (programme NCCR North/South), Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales et de Développement (IHEID, Genève).
  • Le tourneau François-Michel Chargé de recherche au CNRS et chargé associé à l'IRD en Géographie, CREDA.
  • Ligrone Pablo Géographe et  Architecte, Université de la République d'Uruguay.
  • Poiret Guillaume Maître de Conférences en Géographie, Université Paris-Est, Membre de Lab'URBA. Mots clés de recherche : Métropolisation ; Inégalités ; Gouvernance ; Amérique du Nord.
  • Revet Sandrine Chargée de recherche en Anthropologie, SciencePo - CERI.
  • Serje Magarita Professeure en Anthropologie, Université des Andes de Colombie.
  • Surel Yves Professeur en Sciences Politiques, Université de Paris II-Assas - CERSA.
  • Thibaud Clément Maître de conférences en Histoire, Université de Nantes.
  • Vidal Dominique Professeur en Sociologie, Université de Paris 7 - URMIS.
  • Zagefka Polymnia Maître de conférences en Sociologie, IHEAL (Paris 3) - CREDA.

Bibliography

Absi Pascale (2010). « La parte ideal de la crisis: Los mineros cooperativistas de Bolivia frente a la recesión », Cuadernos de antropología social, 2010, n° 31 : 33-54.

Aguilera Thomas, Florence Bouillon, Martin Lamotte (2018). « Politiques de l’expulsion : acteurs, enjeux, effets », l’année sociologique, vol n°68, n°1 : 11-38.

Ballet Jérôme, Dumbi Claudine, Lallau Benoît (2009). « Enfants sorciers à Kinshasa (RD Congo) et développements des églises du réveil », Mondes en développement, n°146 : 47-58. 

Blouin Cécile (Ed.) (2019). Después de la llegada. Realidades de la migración venezolana, Thémis, editorial jurídica, IDEHPUCP, Lima. 

Chateauraynaud Francis (2013). « Des prises sur le futur. Regard analytique sur l’activité visionnaire ». Dans Dominique Bourg, Pierre-Benoît Joly et Alain Kaufmann (eds.), Du risque à la menace. Penser la catastrophe, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France (coll. « L’écologie en question ») : 287-310.

Chobeaux François, Leyreloup Anne-Marie, Maraquin Carine, Ryboloviecz David et Van Aertryck Gilles (2017). « Des catastrophes pas si naturelles que cela », VST - Vie sociale et traitements, vol. 136, n°4 : 3-4.

Doran Marie-Christine (2015). « Criminalisation de l’Action Collective dans la Crise Actuelle des Droits Humains en Amérique Latine », Hors-série, Revue québécoise de droit international : 221-246.

Grandazzi Guillaume et Lemarchand Frédérick (2005). Témoins du futur : vivre avec la catastrophe, Esthétique du témoignage, Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme : 317-332.

Hervé-Huamaní Bruno (2021). « Las metamorfosis de la criminalización. Disuadir y castigar la disidencia contra la minería en el Perú ». Dans Bedoya Forno et alii (Ed.), Huellas y persistencias del conflicto armado en el Perú contemporáneo, Lima, Punto cardinal : 257-281.

Houdart Sophie (2020). « En déroute. Enquêter non loin de la centrale de Fukushima Daiichi, Japon », SociologieS, URL : http://journals.openedition.org/sociologies/14049 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/sociologies.14049

Houdart Sophie, Manceron Vanessa et Revet Sandrine (2015). « Connaître et se prémunir. La logique métrique au défi des sciences sociales », Ethnologie française, 2015, vol. 45, n° 1 : 11-17.

Langumier Julien et Revet Sandrine (2011). « Une ethnographie des catastrophes est-elle possible ? Coulées de boue et inondations au Venezuela et en France », Cahiers d’anthropologie sociale, vol. 7, n° 1 : 77-90.

Monin Alexandre, Landivar Diego, Bonnet Emmanuel (2021). Héritage et fermeture ; une écologie du démantèlement, Paris, Divergences. 

Moore John (Ed.) (2016). « Introduction ». Dans Anthropocene or Capitalocene. Nature, History, and the Crisis of Capitalism, California, PM. Press :1-11.

Moreau Yoann (2017). Vivre avec les catastrophes, Paris cedex 14, Presses Universitaires de France (coll. « L’écologie en question »), 392 p.


Date(s)

  • Monday, January 30, 2023

Keywords

  • crise, Amérique

Contact(s)

  • Comité de Rédaction RITA
    courriel : revue [dot] rita [at] gmail [dot] com

Reference Urls

Information source

  • Antonio Ramos Ramírez
    courriel : revue [dot] rita [at] gmail [dot] com

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Crises in the Americas », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, https://doi.org/10.58079/19o0

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