In 1972, a remarkable confluence of scientific-cultural events contributed to a great transformation in the way we see the planet we inhabit, think about it, act on it and imagine our future together:
Next year, in 2022, fifty years will have passed since their occurrence. What happened, in the meantime? We still have one Earth, but how are we taking care of it? What existence are we allowed to take in it? These are the substantive questions to be explored at the Green Marble International Meeting on Anthropocene Studies and Ecocriticism.
However, other more specific issues, which constitute "common ground" of the Anthropocene Studies – or of the impact of the activity of the human species on the Earth System – and Ecocriticism – or of the study of the relationship between literature and the environment – areas that although distinct share a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary point of view in the analysis of the critical contemporary climate, environmental and ecological situation, its effects, consequences and socio-political-economic, cultural and civilizational implications, as well as in the discussion and proposal of solutions to correct or improve its trajectory, can also be explored. They are, to some extent, part of the legacy of that extraordinary year of 1972:
We invite all researchers and scholars – from the Geosciences and Social sciences, Humanities and Arts, Engineering and Technologies – interested and involved in the study of Anthropocene and Ecocriticism issues to submit proposals in Portuguese or English for participation in this Green Marble 2022 (go to Submissions and key dates). It will be an opportunity to share knowledge and debate issues related to the relationship between human beings and nature and the global impact of human action on our planet, crossing different disciplinary points of view.
- on June 5, in Stockholm, the “United Nations Conference on the Human Environment” was held, considered to be the first on the subject, the starting point for a new era in global cooperation on environmental problems and which paved the way for the concept of sustainable development;
- Baroness economist Jackson of Lodsworth, Barbara Ward and microbiologist René Dubos published the influential book Only One Earth: The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet, considered the unofficial report of this Stockholm Conference;
- the group of social and environmental scientists Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows, Jørgen Randers and Behrens William III also published the much debated report for the Club of Rome Limits to Growth, in which the issue of planetary limits began to be framed;
- in August of that year, James Lovelock formulated in the short article "Gaia as seen through the atmosphere" the controversial "Gaia hypothesis" about the geological involvement of life which generally postulates that the Earth and its biological systems behave like a single entity that controls and maintains conditions on the planet favorable to life;
- James Meeker, a biologist interested in literature, published The Comedy of Survival: Studies in Literary Ecology, where he laid the groundwork for this field of inquiry, "literary ecology" or study of the relationship between the literary arts and scientific ecology, essay which will prove to be seminal in Ecocriticism;
- on December 7 of that same year, the astronaut crew of NASA`s Apollo 17 mission obtained, 45,000 kilometers from Earth and on its way to the Moon, the iconic image “The Blue Marble” which, in addition to being one of the great landmarks of the photograph taken from space, profoundly altered our perception of the Earth, since then it has seemed a small and fragile place, and our common experience of living on it.
Next year, in 2022, fifty years will have passed since their occurrence. What happened, in the meantime? We still have one Earth, but how are we taking care of it? What existence are we allowed to take in it? These are the substantive questions to be explored at the Green Marble International Meeting on Anthropocene Studies and Ecocriticism.
However, other more specific issues, which constitute "common ground" of the Anthropocene Studies – or of the impact of the activity of the human species on the Earth System – and Ecocriticism – or of the study of the relationship between literature and the environment – areas that although distinct share a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary point of view in the analysis of the critical contemporary climate, environmental and ecological situation, its effects, consequences and socio-political-economic, cultural and civilizational implications, as well as in the discussion and proposal of solutions to correct or improve its trajectory, can also be explored. They are, to some extent, part of the legacy of that extraordinary year of 1972:
- does the new planetary condition affect all of Humanity in the same way?
- what/who are declarations, agreements, international treaties on climate, environment, ecology for? does anyone comply with them? does anyone respect them?
- are international and national laws inadequate for the new planetary condition? do they themselves contribute to preventing it from getting better? or even to make matters worse?
- is sustainable development an empty concept? a dangerous belief? a mere instrument of political rhetoric?
- are there really limits to growth? where is the evidence? will they exist only in computer models and scientific textbooks? why are they always being revised?
- does Gaia remain a pregnant model/metaphor for the present time? is Gaia at the end of her life? can Gaia still be saved?
- has Ecocriticism strayed far from its origins when it was more grounded in scientific ecology? is Ecocriticism becoming a field of empirical study of environmental narrative? is ecocriticism a form of powerless activism?
- how are literary genres currently facing environmental issues? can we talk about eco-poems, eco-thrillers or eco-narratives? what defines these genres?
- does fictional literature continue, as claimed by Amitav Ghosh, tending to be oblivious to the problem of global warming and major climate change? what defines the emerging anthropocene dystopias/utopias? how can Literature help to understand the current planetary condition?
- is Earth today a complex computer simulation? or perhaps a programmable object?
- to what extent climate and environmental monitoring through information and communication technologies, remote sensing, etc. help protect the planet? does the growing computational management of (socio-)ecological systems contribute to the eco-environmental de-responsibility of citizens?
- etc.
We invite all researchers and scholars – from the Geosciences and Social sciences, Humanities and Arts, Engineering and Technologies – interested and involved in the study of Anthropocene and Ecocriticism issues to submit proposals in Portuguese or English for participation in this Green Marble 2022 (go to Submissions and key dates). It will be an opportunity to share knowledge and debate issues related to the relationship between human beings and nature and the global impact of human action on our planet, crossing different disciplinary points of view.
GREEN MARBLE 2022 - SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PARTICIPATION | |
File Size: | 181 kb |
File Type: |
GREEN MARBLE 2022 - FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PARTICIPATION | |
File Size: | 181 kb |
File Type: |