Environmental Issues in the Contemporary Balkans
Enjeux environnementaux dans les Balkans contemporains
Thematic Issue of Balkanologie
Numéro thématique de Balkanologie
Published on Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Abstract
The journal Balkanologie proposes to devote a thematic issue, open to a broad disciplinary spectrum (history, history of ideas, sociology, anthropology, economic-political, management, political science, etc.) to contribute to a reflection on the constitution and evolution of environmental issues in the contemporary South-East European region.
Announcement
Association française d’études sur les Balkans
Thematic issue 2021/2
Argument
The environmental issue emerged in industrialized countries from the 1960s onwards as an awareness of the planet's limits in the face of economic growth.
Initially dealt with as a sectoral issue of national public policies, it became from the 1970s onwards, an issue for international coordination by governments (Stockholm in 1972, Rio in 1992) and civil society (multiplication of environmental NGOs: WWF (1961), Friend of the Earth (1970), Geenpeace (1971), etc.). Integrated at the end of the 1980s into development thinking, under the term “sustainable development” (Bruntland Report, 1986), it became more precise and was broken down into different resolution regimes (climate, biodiversity, resources, pollution, etc.).
Today, environmental issues are shaping new forms of governmentality, linking local situations and global issues, opening up new areas of regulation and standardization. They also trigger conflicts and resistances, leading to new modes of action, coordination and individual or collective identifications.
In this respect, the Balkans constitute a specific area, especially in view of its contemporary history : the dissolution of empires in the 19th and 20th centuries, the relatively “late” creation of Nation-States, the violent trauma of the two World Wars, the experiences of communism after 1945, alternating military and civil regimes in Turkey and Greece, transition paths towards a market economy and liberal democracy, sometimes marked by civil wars and ethno-territorial conflicts. As regards the constitution of the “environmental question”, we are therefore faced with a multiplicity of situations and an extreme fractioning of contexts.
From a legal and political point of view, the convergence of South-Eastern Europe towards the “acquis communautaire” conveyed by the European Union constitutes today an important horizon of (re)formulation of the environmental issues. But it is not the only one.
The journal Balkanologie proposes to devote a thematic issue, open to a broad disciplinary spectrum (history, history of ideas, sociology, anthropology, economic-political, management, political science, etc.) to contribute to a reflection on the constitution and evolution of environmental issues in the contemporary South-East European region.
This call for articles is therefore open to case studies of various theoretical or methodological approaches. These may be of a very contemporary nature, but may also shed light on current issues in a longer-term perspective; they may focus on a specific territorial scale or examine the interactions between several levels of action; emphasize collective dynamics or individual profiles and strategies of actors.
This issue is likely to receive contributions on the following sub-axes:
- heavy and extractive industries (mining, gravel pits, sands, petrochemicals, etc.), energy;
- agriculture and food, forestry;
- protection and management of natural areas;
- land use planning, urban development;
- pollution and public health;
- ...
Authors are invited to approach these issues from the angle of:
- environmental history - including the specificities of the issue during communist and post-communist times;
- political ideas, discourses, and the emergence of political ecology in new democracies;
- actors (activists, intellectuals, political figures, experts, etc.), strategies and formats of collective environmental action, conflicts and power relations;
- public policies, at different scales, by proposing a critical analysis of environmental management methods and their effectiveness;
- individual practices (food, health, etc.), construction of personal identities and modes of subjectivation;
- ...
Countries concerned: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, Turkey.
Submission of proposals
Abstracts — in English or French — must be sent by May 31, 2020
to Isabelle Depret (isdepret@gmail.com), François Lerin (francois.lerin@posteo.net) et Claire Bernard-Mongin (clr.bernard@gmail.com), guest editors. The proposals shall include a title, a summary (maximum 500 words), five keywords, a brief bio-bibliographic note and contact information.
Authors will be informed of the selection of proposals by the editors by e-mail in July 2020.
Deadline for full article submission is 15 December 2020. All articles will be anonymously reviewed. Authors will have one month to integrate editorial comments and suggestions. Publication is scheduled for the second semester of 2021.
Guidelines for authors: https://afebalk.hypotheses.org/balkanologie/instructions-aux-auteurs-guideline-for-authors
Editors
- Isabelle Depret
- François Lerin
- Claire Bernard-Mongin
Subjects
Date(s)
- Sunday, May 31, 2020
Keywords
- environnement, protection, espace naturel, pollution, aménagement du territoire, développement urbain, contestation
Contact(s)
- Isabelle Depret
courriel : isdepret [at] gmail [dot] com - François Lerin
courriel : francois [dot] lerin [at] laposteo [dot] net - Claire Bernard-Mongin
courriel : clr [dot] bernard [at] gmail [dot] com
Information source
- Gilles De Rapper
courriel : gilles [dot] derapper [at] efa [dot] gr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Environmental Issues in the Contemporary Balkans », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, https://doi.org/10.58079/14p2
