An ecological transition under strain: country, landscape, and uses in contemporary Germany
Une transition écologique sous tension : pays, paysages, usages dans l’Allemagne contemporaine
Ökologische Wende unter Druck: Land, Landschaft, Landnutzung im heutigen Deutschland
Published on Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Abstract
The starting point for this conference is the observation that the ecological transition in Germany, which one might have thought would be easier or at least more harmonious than in other countries due to the importance that environmental issues have had in German culture, society, and politics from very early on, is in fact encountering numerous obstacles and is even being called into question. This is evidenced, among other things, by the setbacks which the energy transition encounters and by the success of the party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) despite—or perhaps because of—its stance in favour of climate change denial.
Announcement
Argument
The starting point for this conference is the observation that the ecological transition in Germany, which one might have thought would be easier or at least more harmonious than in other countries due to the importance that environmental issues have had in German culture, society, and politics from very early on, is in fact encountering numerous obstacles and is even being called into question. This is evidenced, among other things, by the setbacks which the energy transition encounters and by the success of the party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) despite—or perhaps because of—its stance in favour of climate change denial.
Indeed, Germany boasts a reputation as a “green power”, as it is associated with a strong ecological tradition, having been active and even a pioneer both in theory, since the 18th century, and in practice, since the early 20th century. However, this reputation is now coming into conflict with the many obstacles which the transition has to face. This results in a situation of “ecological ambivalence” (Müller et al. 2025), the centre of which seems to be the confrontation between a pro-environment, pacifist, or even utopian ideal and the reality of circumstances and facts—although it also goes beyond that.
There lies the paradox that we wish to place in the middle of this conference, whose reflections will be structured around three concepts : “country”, “landscape” and “use”.
Submission guidelines
Proposals (approx. 500 words) should be sent, together with a short biobibliography, by November 30th, 2025 at the latest, to the following three addresses :
- margot.damiens@univ-lyon3.fr
- sibylle.goepper@univ-lyon3.fr
- pierre-yves.modicom@univ-lyon3.fr
The languages of the conference will be German, French, and English.
Applications from young researchers are strongly encouraged.
Decisions on the acceptance or rejection of proposals will be communicated around January 25th, 2026.
Scientific committee
- Martine Benoît (U Lille)
- Aurélie Choné (U Strasbourg)
- Gabriele Dürbeck (U Vechta)
- Olivier Hanse (U Lorraine)
- Agnès Labrousse (IEP Lyon)
- Anne-Marie Pailhès (U Paris Nanterre)
- Hermine Penz (U Graz)
Subjects
- Geography (Main category)
- Society > History > Economic history
- Periods > Modern > Twentieth century > 1989 to the present day
- Periods > Modern > Twenty-first century
- Society > Political studies > Political and social movements
- Society > Geography > Geography: society and territory
- Society > Geography > Nature, landscape and environment
- Zones and regions > Europe > Germanic world
Places
- Lyon, France (69000)
Event attendance modalities
Full online event
Date(s)
- Sunday, November 30, 2025
Attached files
Keywords
- environmental humanities, ecology, transition, german studies
Contact(s)
- Pierre-Yves Modicom
courriel : pierre-yves [dot] modicom [at] univ-lyon3 [dot] fr - Sibylle Goepper
courriel : sibylle [dot] goepper [at] univ-lyon3 [dot] fr - Margot Damiens
courriel : margot [dot] damiens [at] univ-lyon3 [dot] fr
Reference Urls
Information source
- Pierre-Yves Modicom
courriel : pierre-yves [dot] modicom [at] univ-lyon3 [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« An ecological transition under strain: country, landscape, and uses in contemporary Germany », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/14xyb
