Konferenz

Health, Envi­ron­ment, and Anthropology
23–24 April 2025
Durham University

As the world is get­ting fuller, faster, hot­ter, and sick­er, HEAT asks how can anthro­pol­o­gists con­tribute to unfold­ing debates around health and envi­ron­ment on a chang­ing and unequal plan­et? In what ways can med­ical and envi­ron­men­tal anthro­pol­o­gy work togeth­er and with oth­er dis­ci­plines, com­mu­ni­ties, and stake­hold­ers to help sup­port the devel­op­ment of knowl­edge and resources for respond­ing to envi­ron­men­tal destruc­tion and glob­al heating?

As envi­ron­men­tal and cli­mate trans­form soci­eties and ecolo­gies around the world, it is imper­a­tive that anthro­pol­o­gists con­tin­ue to seek new ways of think­ing and speak­ing among them­selves and with oth­ers about the rela­tion­ships among humans, oth­er-than-humans, the envi­ron­ment, and the plan­et. By exam­in­ing the intri­cate web of inter­de­pen­den­cies between soci­eties, ecosys­tems, and envi­ron­men­tal process­es, anthro­pol­o­gists have an impor­tant role to play in under­stand­ing and address­ing the com­plex chal­lenges faced by our planet.

Pan­el pro­pos­als are invit­ed in the fol­low­ing and relat­ed areas:

• Chang­ing pat­terns and pro­files of health, ill­ness, and dis­ease in response to envi­ron­men­tal and cli­mate change
• Chang­ing human and more-than-human entan­gle­ments in rela­tion to envi­ron­men­tal and cli­mate change
• Social move­ments and new forms of social­i­ty aris­ing from con­cerns about plan­e­tary health
• Envi­ron­men­tal jus­tice, inequal­i­ty, and mar­gin­al­ized communities
• Demo­graph­ic anx­i­eties and the effects of migra­tion, dis­place­ment, and armed con­flict in the con­text of chang­ing environments
• Impacts of cli­mate change on repro­duc­tive health and rights
• Diverse eco­log­i­cal knowl­edges and indige­nous per­spec­tives on plan­e­tary health
• Sus­tain­able food sys­tems, agri­cul­ture, and nutrition
• Urban­iza­tion, glob­al­iza­tion, and the trans­for­ma­tion of human-envi­ron­ment relationships
• Health impacts of extrac­tive indus­tries and resource exploitation
• Eth­i­cal and/or method­olog­i­cal con­sid­er­a­tions in plan­e­tary health research and interventions
• Pol­i­cy inter­ven­tions and gov­er­nance for plan­e­tary health
• Tech­no­log­i­cal and design inno­va­tions for improv­ing plan­e­tary health and deal­ing with the health impacts of envi­ron­men­tal destruc­tion and glob­al heating
• Men­tal health and well­be­ing in the con­text of cli­mate change
• Inter­dis­ci­pli­nary con­nec­tions, includ­ing engage­ment with the Over­laps and con­tention between the frame­works of Plan­e­tary Health, Glob­al Health, and One Health.

Pan­el pro­pos­als should include a title and 250 word abstract. The dead­line is Sep­tem­ber 2024. A Call for Papers will then follow.

To sub­mit a pan­el abstract, please fol­low this link: https://pay.durham.ac.uk/event-durham/health-environment-and-anthropology-heat-2024

Email the con­fer­ence organ­is­ers at anthro.heat.conference@gmail.com

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Call for Pan­els „Health, Envi­ron­ment, and Anthropology”
23–24 April 2025
Durham Uni­ver­si­ty in UK
Orga­nized by the The Roy­al Anthro­po­log­i­cal Insti­tute, Uni­ver­si­ty of Durham & Uni­ver­si­ty of Edin­burgh present

As the world is get­ting fuller, faster, hot­ter, and sick­er, HEAT asks how can anthro­pol­o­gists con­tribute to unfold­ing debates around health and envi­ron­ment on a chang­ing and unequal plan­et? In what ways can med­ical and envi­ron­men­tal anthro­pol­o­gy work togeth­er and with oth­er dis­ci­plines, com­mu­ni­ties, and stake­hold­ers to help sup­port the devel­op­ment of knowl­edge and resources for respond­ing to envi­ron­men­tal destruc­tion and glob­al heating?

As envi­ron­men­tal and cli­mate trans­form soci­eties and ecolo­gies around the world, it is imper­a­tive that anthro­pol­o­gists con­tin­ue to seek new ways of think­ing and speak­ing among them­selves and with oth­ers about the rela­tion­ships among humans, oth­er-than-humans, the envi­ron­ment, and the plan­et. By exam­in­ing the intri­cate web of inter­de­pen­den­cies between soci­eties, ecosys­tems, and envi­ron­men­tal process­es, anthro­pol­o­gists have an impor­tant role to play in under­stand­ing and address­ing the com­plex chal­lenges faced by our planet.

Pan­el pro­pos­als are invit­ed in the fol­low­ing and relat­ed areas:

Chang­ing pat­terns and pro­files of health, ill­ness, and dis­ease in response to envi­ron­men­tal and cli­mate change

• Chang­ing human and more-than-human entan­gle­ments in rela­tion to envi­ron­men­tal and cli­mate change
• Social move­ments and new forms of social­i­ty aris­ing from con­cerns about plan­e­tary health
• Envi­ron­men­tal jus­tice, inequal­i­ty, and mar­gin­al­ized communities
  Demo­graph­ic anx­i­eties and the effects of migra­tion, dis­place­ment, and armed con­flict in the con­text of chang­ing environments
• Impacts of cli­mate change on repro­duc­tive health and rights
  Diverse eco­log­i­cal knowl­edges and indige­nous per­spec­tives on plan­e­tary health
  Sus­tain­able food sys­tems, agri­cul­ture, and nutrition
• Urban­iza­tion, glob­al­iza­tion, and the trans­for­ma­tion of human-envi­ron­ment relationships
• Health impacts of extrac­tive indus­tries and resource exploitation
  Eth­i­cal and/or method­olog­i­cal con­sid­er­a­tions in plan­e­tary health research and interventions
• Pol­i­cy inter­ven­tions and gov­er­nance for plan­e­tary health
  Tech­no­log­i­cal and design inno­va­tions for improv­ing plan­e­tary health and deal­ing with the health impacts of envi­ron­men­tal destruc­tion and glob­al heating
  Men­tal health and well­be­ing in the con­text of cli­mate change
• Inter­dis­ci­pli­nary con­nec­tions, includ­ing engage­ment with the Over­laps and con­tention between the frame­works of Plan­e­tary Health, Glob­al Health, and One Health.

Pan­el pro­pos­als should include a title and 250 word abstract. The dead­line is 30th Sep­tem­ber 2024. A Call for Papers will then follow.

To sub­mit a pan­el abstract, please fol­low this link: https://pay.durham.ac.uk/event-durham/health-environment-and-anthropology-heat-2024

Email the con­fer­ence organ­is­ers at anthro.heat.conference@gmail.com

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We are delight­ed to share details on the forth­com­ing Health, Envi­ron­ment, and AnThro­pol­o­gy (HEAT) conference
23rd and 24th April 2025
Durham Uni­ver­si­ty and online

Please fol­low this link for details and program

The HEAT team

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Pan­el on „More-than-human health in an inter­de­pen­dent world”
Health, Envi­ron­ment, and Anthro­pol­o­gy (HEAT) Conference
Uni­ver­si­ty of Durham
April 23–24 2025
CfP dead­line: 13 Jan
With Wim Van Daele (UiA), Hei­di Fjeld (UiO), Jelle Wouters (RTC), and Ele­na Neri (UiA)

Details: The con­cepts of One Health, Plan­e­tary Health, and Eco-Health fore­ground the depen­den­cy of human health on the health of the envi­ron­ment. In sci­en­tif­ic prac­tice, these con­cepts tend to focus most­ly on the sci­en­tif­ic bio­log­i­cal and tan­gi­ble social aspects of the inter­de­pen­den­cies between the human and non-human aspects of health, neglect­ing the role played by intan­gi­ble and invis­i­ble oth­er-than-human enti­ties. Hence, we adopt the notion of “more-than-human health” to enhance atten­tive­ness to dif­fer­ent onto­log­i­cal and relat­ed (micro)biosocial prac­tices of human and oth­er-than-human health and well-being across the world.

This pan­el invites con­tri­bu­tions that explore com­plex inter­de­pen­den­cies and entan­gle­ments between human beings and visible/tangible and invisible/intangible oth­er-than human enti­ties that in their entan­gle­ment shape more-than-human health. We invite inter­dis­ci­pli­nary ori­ent­ed papers that exam­ine the (micro)biosocial con­nec­tions between invis­i­ble and (sci­en­tif­i­cal­ly made) vis­i­ble aspects in the more-than-human inter­de­pen­dent prac­tice of craft­ing health and well­be­ing across dif­fer­ent sit­u­a­tions and ontolo­gies. We wel­come par­tic­u­lar­ly papers that attest to the sit­u­at­ed (micro)biosocialities with­in these onto­log­i­cal prac­tices in more-than-human health. This can include, but is not lim­it­ed to, papers explor­ing entan­gle­ments between:

rit­u­al prac­tices and microbiomes,
cos­mol­o­gy, cli­mate change, and chang­ing health practices,
super­nat­ur­al enti­ties, ani­mals, and microbiomes,
epi­ge­net­ics, stress and food environments,

and more under­ex­plored interdependencies…

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Abschlusskon­ferenz des deutsch-franzö­sis­chen Forschung­spro­jek­ts „The Social Pro­duc­tion of Space and Age” (SPAGE)

More info: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/128738740/SPAGE

Die Kon­ferenz „Cross­ing Bound­aries: Transna­tion­al and Trans­dis­ci­pli­nary Per­spec­tives on (Re)Configurations of Space in Age­ing Soci­eties“ find­et am 26. & 27. Mai 2025 an der Goethe-Uni­ver­sität Frank­furt am Main, Cam­pus Wes­t­end, Casi­no, Raum
1.801 (Renate von Met­zler-Saal) statt.

Es erwarten Sie span­nende Vorträge und Diskus­sio­nen zu Per­spek­tiv­en auf das Zusam­men­spiel von Altern und Raum aus unter­schiedlichen Diszi­plinen und Län­dern. Das detail­lierte Pro­gramm find­en Sie hier: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/170314818.pdf

Wir freuen uns über Ihre Teil­nahme. Zur Reg­istrierung nutzen Sie bitte diesen Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crossing-boundaries-final-conference-of-research-project-spage-26–2705-tickets-1209545586409?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Call for sub­mis­sions for the 3rd ENPA Bien­ni­al Con­fer­ence, Anthro­polo­gies and Psy­cholo­gies in Inter/Action – Engag­ing Inter­dis­ci­pli­nary Perspectives
11–13 June 2025
Schloss, Uni­ver­si­ty of Mün­ster, Germany
With a junior fac­ul­ty pre-con­fer­ence on 10 June 2025 

This year’s theme explores the emerg­ing inter­sec­tions of psy­cho­log­i­cal anthro­polo­gies and anthro­po­log­i­cal psy­cholo­gies, fos­ter­ing dia­logue on the poten­tial of inter­dis­ci­pli­nary col­lab­o­ra­tion. We seek con­tri­bu­tions from anthro­pol­o­gists, psy­chol­o­gists, and schol­ars from relat­ed dis­ci­plines who wish to present their research, share reflec­tions, and imag­ine future col­lab­o­ra­tions at the cross­roads of these fields. 

Con­fer­ence Focus:

We aim to cat­alyze inno­va­tions in inter­dis­ci­pli­nary engage­ments, par­tic­u­lar­ly regard­ing: Method­olog­i­cal, the­o­ret­i­cal, and con­cep­tu­al reflec­tions / Chal­lenges to uni­ver­sal­iz­ing the­o­ries and inter­ven­tions in the face of pow­er asym­me­tries and crit­i­cal epis­te­molo­gies / Decol­o­niz­ing and diver­si­fy­ing research meth­ods, infra­struc­tures, and cur­ric­u­la / Ret­ro­spec­tive, cur­rent, and for­ward-look­ing per­spec­tives on inter­dis­ci­pli­nary work in aca­d­e­m­ic and non-aca­d­e­m­ic contexts. 

Through this con­fer­ence, we seek to cre­ate con­struc­tive dia­logues that pro­pose new frame­works for research, prac­tice, and appli­ca­tion in areas such as pol­i­cy-mak­ing, ther­a­py, heal­ing, edu­ca­tion, care, and resistance. 

Call for Contributions: 

We warm­ly wel­come sub­mis­sions for pan­els, papers, round­ta­bles, and labs that engage with these themes. We are par­tic­u­lar­ly inter­est­ed in inter­dis­ci­pli­nary and exper­i­men­tal for­mats, includ­ing cross-media, film-based research, and pub­lic-fac­ing projects. For­mats can be either ful­ly online or ful­ly in-house but can­not com­bine both with­in the same session. 

Sub­mis­sion Dead­line: 31 Jan­u­ary 2025. 

Please send your sub­mis­sions to: submissions@enpanthro.net

For detailed guide­lines and updates, please see our detailed Call for Papers below (since the mail­ing list does not allow attach­ments). You will also find the call for papers on ENPA’s web­site soon: https://enpanthro.net/

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Con­fer­ence Theme

This con­fer­ence takes the recent emer­gence of psy­cho­log­i­cal anthro­polo­gies (and also anthro­po­log­i­cal psy­cholo­gies) as an oppor­tu­ni­ty to reflect on the poten­tial of inter­dis­ci­pli­nary col­lab­o­ra­tion. It invites anthro­pol­o­gists, psy­chol­o­gists, and schol­ars from relat­ed dis­ci­plines who are inter­est­ed or engaged in join­ing forces across dis­ci­plines to present their research and reflect on their schol­ar­ship, inter­ven­tions, and aca­d­e­m­ic land­scapes. It is the main aim of the con­fer­ence to cat­alyze or set forth ideas and imag­i­na­tions for future inter/actions between psy­cholo­gies and anthropologies.

The con­fer­ence invites research papers and con­tri­bu­tions on method­olog­i­cal, the­o­ret­i­cal, and con­cep­tu­al inno­va­tions and reflec­tions on the poten­tial of anthro­polo­gies and psy­cholo­gies that are increas­ing­ly con­cerned with pow­er asym­me­tries, crit­i­cal epis­te­molo­gies, and the effects of uni­ver­sal­iz­ing the­o­ries and inter­ven­tions. In the face of grow­ing human and non-human inter­con­nect­ed­ness, psy­cho­log­i­cal anthro­pol­o­gy fos­ters insights into new forms of inequal­i­ty, vio­lence, and human sub­jec­tiv­i­ty. The assump­tion that psy­cho­log­i­cal and bio-psy­chi­atric insights are to be imposed on human expe­ri­ence and behav­ior is itself open to ques­tion, cre­at­ing ten­sions between uni­ver­sal­iz­ing and rel­a­tiviz­ing under­stand­ings of the human con­di­tion that col­lab­o­ra­tions between anthro­pol­o­gy and psy­chol­o­gy are unique­ly posi­tioned to address. 

In addi­tion to explor­ing cur­rent inter­dis­ci­pli­nary engage­ments, the con­fer­ence high­lights per­spec­tives on diver­si­fy­ing and decol­o­niz­ing research meth­ods, infra­struc­tures, and cur­ric­u­la. Such self-reflex­ive and col­lab­o­ra­tive lens­es seem para­mount as they chal­lenge hege­mon­ic key assump­tions on feel­ing, think­ing, inter­act­ing, or learning. 

The con­fer­ence encour­ages par­tic­i­pants to think of their con­tri­bu­tions not just, or even pri­mar­i­ly, as cri­tiques but rather as con­struc­tive attempts to define and pro­pose future trans- and inter­dis­ci­pli­nary engage­ments at the inter­sec­tions of psy­chol­o­gy and anthro­pol­o­gy and relat­ed dis­ci­plines. This con­fer­ence is inter­est­ed in ret­ro­spec­tives, cur­rent ini­tia­tives, and pro­pos­als for ways to do inter­dis­ci­pli­nary research, ana­lyze results, the­o­rize, and apply them in aca­d­e­m­ic and non-aca­d­e­m­ic settings. 

Through a fruit­ful dia­logue with­in and between dis­ci­plines, the 3rd ENPA 2025 Bien­ni­al aims to fos­ter new insights in research con­texts, pol­i­cy­mak­ing, ther­a­py, heal­ing, car­ing, resist­ing, or learn­ing, to men­tion but a few ini­tia­tives. It explic­it­ly invites inter­dis­ci­pli­nary dia­logues and collaborations.

Call for Pan­els, Papers, Round­ta­bles, and Labs

We warm­ly invite pan­el and paper sub­mis­sions across the field of schol­ars work­ing at the inter­sec­tions of anthro­pol­o­gy, psy­chol­o­gy, and relat­ed dis­ci­plines. Aside from research papers, we explic­it­ly encour­age con­tri­bu­tions that work with mixed, cross/media, or film as research meth­ods or ways that com­mu­ni­cate research in aca­d­e­m­ic and non-aca­d­e­m­ic publics. We also encour­age round­ta­bles on con­tro­ver­sial ques­tions and debates, and we invite cre­ative labs that can be con­duct­ed both inside the venue and in the sur­round­ing envi­ron­ments of the Schloss (includ­ing the Botan­i­cal Gar­den, Schloss Park, or the city).

Pan­el and paper sub­mis­sions: We emphat­i­cal­ly encour­age pan­el sub­mis­sions but will also accept a lim­it­ed num­ber of indi­vid­ual papers, which will be arranged into cohe­sive pan­els by the ENPA con­fer­ence team. Each pan­el ses­sion includes 5 x 20-minute pre­sen­ta­tion slots and 20 min­utes for open dis­cus­sion. Pos­si­ble for­mats are: 5 papers + 20 min dis­cus­sion OR 4 papers, dis­cus­sant + 20 min discussion. 

Round­ta­bles: We invite round­ta­bles on con­tro­ver­sial ques­tions and debates com­pris­ing a max­i­mum of 7 (inter­na­tion­al) guest speak­ers and 3 moderators.

Labs: We encour­age labs in which exper­i­men­tal dis­cus­sion for­mats are to be test­ed. This includes walk-alongs, walkie-talkies, emplaced learn­ing, or artis­tic meth­ods, to men­tion but a few exam­ples, as well as projects that break new ground method­olog­i­cal­ly and ped­a­gog­i­cal­ly. A max­i­mum of 4 orga­niz­ers are encour­aged to engage in cre­ative for­mats and orga­nize the num­ber of par­tic­i­pants, aims, and modalities.

All pre­sen­ta­tion types (i.e., pan­els, papers, round­ta­bles, and labs can be orga­nized as either exclu­sive online for­mats, or as exclu­sive in-house for­mats, but for­mats can­not be merged (i.e. it is not pos­si­ble to have a mix of online and in-house pre­sen­ta­tions in one pan­el, round­table, lab).

Please sub­mit your pan­els, papers, round­ta­bles, or labs by 31 Jan­u­ary 2025 via email at submissions@enpanthro.net

Pan­el sub­mis­sions should include:

· gen­er­al abstract, max 250 words, please indi­cate if online or in-house
· abstract for each of the 4–5 papers, max 250 words each
· name, insti­tu­tion­al affil­i­a­tion, and email of all par­tic­i­pants (chair/s, pre­sen­ters, discussants)

Indi­vid­ual paper sub­mis­sions should include:

· abstract, max 250 words, please indi­cate if online or in-house
· name, affil­i­a­tion, and email

Round­table sub­mis­sions should include:

· gen­er­al abstract, max 250 words, please indi­cate if online or in-house
· name, insti­tu­tion­al affil­i­a­tion, and email of all par­tic­i­pants (mod­er­a­tors, guest speakers)

Lab sub­mis­sions should include: 

· gen­er­al abstract in the theme, max 250 words, please indi­cate if online or in-house
· a note on aims, modal­i­ties, media, ped­a­gogy, space, and for­mat, max 250 words
· name, insti­tu­tion­al affil­i­a­tion, and email of all organizers

To ensure robust atten­dance across work­shops, labs, and round­ta­bles, the con­fer­ence orga­niz­ers may lim­it the total num­ber of ses­sions avail­able in these for­mats. Addi­tion­al­ly, the ‘two-role rule’ applies to roles involv­ing work­shops, labs, round­table orga­ni­za­tion, and posi­tions as pan­elists or speak­ers: each par­tic­i­pant may engage in no more than two dis­tinct roles across these cat­e­gories (e.g., workshop/lab/roundtable orga­ni­za­tion, speak­er, mod­er­a­tor, or dis­cus­sant). Dual roles with­in the same cat­e­go­ry are not per­mit­ted. Please note that when par­tic­i­pat­ing in a lab, the ‘two-role rule’ does not apply.

Reg­is­tra­tion will open in Feb­ru­ary 2025, and – as in pre­vi­ous years – we aim to keep fees as low as pos­si­ble to ensure a diverse and acces­si­ble conference.

Fur­ther infor­ma­tion on ENPA and the 3rd ENPA 2025 Bien­ni­al Con­fer­ence can be found on our web­site: https://enpanthro.net. If you have any fur­ther ques­tions regard­ing the con­fer­ence, please do not hes­i­tate to con­tact us at conference@enpanthro.net

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CfP for the third ENPA (Euro­pean Net­work for Psy­cho­log­i­cal Anthro­pol­o­gy) Bien­ni­al Con­fer­ence titled “Anthro­polo­gies and Psy­cholo­gies in Inter/Action – Engag­ing Inter­dis­ci­pli­nary Perspectives”
Dead­line Feb­ru­ary 21st

The con­fer­ence will be held at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mün­ster in the west of Ger­many, as well as online
11–13 June 2025

Pre­ced­ing the main con­fer­ence, the Writ­ing (Co-)Lab: ENPA Pre-Con­fer­ence Work­shop for Grad­u­ate Stu­dents and Ear­ly Career Schol­ars will be held on 10 June 2025.

This year’s con­fer­ence aims to explore the dynam­ic inter­sec­tions between psy­cho­log­i­cal anthro­pol­o­gy and anthro­po­log­i­cal psy­chol­o­gy, fos­ter­ing inter­dis­ci­pli­nary dia­logue and col­lab­o­ra­tion. We invite anthro­pol­o­gists, psy­chol­o­gists, and schol­ars from relat­ed dis­ci­plines to present their research, share reflec­tions, and envi­sion future col­lab­o­ra­tions at the cross­roads of these fields. The con­fer­ence will host an array of inter­na­tion­al invit­ed speak­ers includ­ing keynotes from Prof. Byron Good (Har­vard Uni­ver­si­ty), Prof. Marie-Jo Delvec­chio-Good (Har­vard Uni­ver­si­ty), and Prof. Charis­sa Cheah (UMBC).

We warm­ly invite pan­el and paper sub­mis­sions across the field of schol­ars work­ing at the inter­sec­tions of anthro­pol­o­gy, psy­chol­o­gy, and relat­ed dis­ci­plines. Aside from research papers, we explic­it­ly encour­age con­tri­bu­tions that work with mixed, cross/media, or film as research meth­ods or ways that com­mu­ni­cate research in aca­d­e­m­ic and non-aca­d­e­m­ic publics.

In-per­son con­fer­ence fees include warm lunch meals, snacks, cof­fee and tea. Prices are esti­mat­ed at 90 euros for ful­ly employed, 50 euros for not ful­ly employed. Online par­tic­i­pa­tion will be around 30 Euros.

Find more info about the sub­mis­sion process: https://enpanthro.net/call-for-panels-papers-roundtables-and-labs/

Please send your sub­mis­sions to: submissions@enpanthro.net.

If you have any ques­tions regard­ing the con­fer­ence, please do not hes­i­tate to con­tact us at conference@enpanthro.net

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CfP for Euro­pean Con­fer­ence on Social Medicine
20th-22nd of June
Uni­ver­si­ty of Oslo

Call for papers dead­line is the 7th of February

Call for papers:

Approach­es to health and health­care have long been at the heart of debates on the nature and prac­tice of flour­ish­ing soci­eties. Today, much of what has been held as wide­ly shared truth is fac­ing renewed back­lash and con­stric­tion. A con­tin­u­ing onslaught of per­ceived and expe­ri­enced crises has mar­gin­al­ized dis­cours­es of sol­i­dar­i­ty to the ben­e­fit of indi­vid­u­al­ized and nation­al­ized rhetoric on health. Schol­ars ask whether sys­tems, knowl­edge, and research put in place to secure health and well­be­ing might rather do the oppo­site. Social med­i­cine as a field in Europe has strug­gled to find sol­id ground upon which to engage these cri­tiques and go about the col­lec­tive work of build­ing health­i­er futures. Yet, in the face of fas­cist, xeno­pho­bic, and oth­er­wise exclu­sion­ary vic­to­ries across Europe and the US, social med­i­cine is as vital as ever before.
To find a path for­ward for a social med­i­cine with an eye toward health for all requires prac­tice, the­o­ry, and action that tran­scends tra­di­tion­al dis­ci­plines and approach­es. The human­i­ties and social sci­ences pro­vide frame­works for ques­tion­ing, ana­lyz­ing, and the­o­riz­ing issues affect­ing soci­eties, health, and well­be­ing today. Health pro­fes­sion­als trained in the human­i­ties and social sci­ences may have unique per­spec­tives on these ques­tions in their own fields. We seek to bring to the fore three cen­tral modes of the work of social med­i­cine – prac­tice, the­o­ry, and action – to ask how they, either inde­pen­dent­ly or in inter­play, serve the build­ing of alter­na­tive futures. By prac­tice, we mean approach­es to work­ing in health­care pro­fes­sions in ways that uphold the val­ues of equi­ty and jus­tice, as well as sit­u­at­ed, reflex­ive research engage­ments with health­care prac­tices. By the­o­ry, we mean crit­i­cal epis­te­molo­gies and social the­o­ries that con­front entrenched par­a­digms and con­struct new approach­es to health. By action, we mean engage­ment with and cri­tique of attempts – inter­ven­tions, advo­ca­cy, and sys­temic shifts – to build health­ful, nour­ish­ing futures. Cog­nizant that social med­i­cine reflects on, ana­lyzes, and requires all three, we ask how and when these modes best may be interwoven.
The ECSM will be an are­na for health pro­fes­sion­als with dual train­ing in the social sci­ences or human­i­ties whose work engages one or all of these three modes: prac­tice, the­o­ry, and action. Schol­ars across dis­ci­plines com­mit­ted to nur­tur­ing health for all are also wel­come. We seek to ground our con­fer­ence in the shared pur­pose of build­ing healthy futures and invite con­tri­bu­tions that approach prac­tice, the­o­ry, and action with curios­i­ty. In com­ing togeth­er, we hope to cre­ate a com­mu­ni­ty of schol­ars who strive to address the inter­con­nect­ed chal­lenges that our col­lec­tive health and health sys­tems face as well as sug­gest solu­tions and ini­tia­tives by call­ing upon meth­ods from the health pro­fes­sions, social sci­ences, and the humanities.
We invite sub­mis­sions on any top­ic at the cross-sec­tion of the health pro­fes­sions and social sci­ence and the human­i­ties, and wel­come a range of dis­ci­pli­nary approach­es, time peri­ods and geo­graph­i­cal con­texts. We par­tic­u­lar­ly encour­age pro­pos­als that address aspects of the con­fer­ence theme – prac­tice, the­o­ry, and action – in the work of con­tem­po­rary social med­i­cine. Abstracts are wel­come from all fields in the health pro­fes­sions, social sci­ences, and human­i­ties, includ­ing inter- and trans-dis­ci­pli­nary projects.

Please do not hes­i­tate to reach out if you have ques­tions regard­ing the call or our con­fer­ence more generally.

Emma Lengle MD MPH
Insti­tute of Health and Soci­ety, Uni­ver­si­ty of Oslo
Depart­ment of Glob­al Health and Social Med­i­cine, Har­vard University
emmajle@uio.no / emma_lengle@hms.harvard.edu

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CfP for a con­fer­ence on „Care in and out of Africa”
Prague, June 25–28 2025
Organ­is­ers : Lys Alcay­na-Stevens, Clara Devlieger 

Inter­est­ed con­trib­u­tors should sub­mit an abstract in Eng­lish or French by 15 Decem­ber 2024 via the ECAS paper sub­mis­sion form. If you have any ques­tions, please do not hes­i­tate to get in touch with Lys (lys.alcayna-stevens@anthro.ox.ac.uk) and/or Clara (clara.devlieger@unil.ch).

Abstract: Care, both as a con­cept and a prac­tice, is deeply embed­ded in every­day life in Africa. From the inti­mate acts of care­giv­ing dur­ing preg­nan­cy and ill­ness to com­mu­nal rites sur­round­ing funer­als, and the shared expe­ri­ence of food or prayer, care man­i­fests through sen­so­ry and affec­tive engage­ments that shape fam­i­ly and com­mu­nal bonds. These prac­tices are entan­gled with­in broad­er his­to­ries of migra­tion, colo­nial­ism, and glob­al health regimes. This pan­el inter­ro­gates how these entan­gle­ments are expe­ri­enced, con­test­ed, and trans­formed in Africa and among its diasporas.

By bring­ing togeth­er schol­ars work­ing at the inter­sec­tion of care, sens­es, affect, and health, we explore ques­tions such as: How is care nego­ti­at­ed in set­tings of state neglect? What do the ten­sions between patients and prac­ti­tion­ers, and between bio­med­ical pro­to­cols and every­day care prac­tices, show about the entan­gle­ment of care with pow­er, inequal­i­ty, and gov­er­nance? How do they repro­duce inequal­i­ties or serve as sites of resis­tance against neolib­er­al­ism and biopo­lit­i­cal con­trol? Who are the new providers and recip­i­ents of care, and under what con­di­tions does care become politicised?

Chang­ing care arrange­ments high­light inter­sec­tions of polit­i­cal econ­o­my, embod­ied expe­ri­ence, and every­day prac­tice. How does care bring moral and polit­i­cal economies togeth­er? How is care felt, sensed, and enact­ed in var­i­ous con­texts, from health­care set­tings to domes­tic spaces? How does care extend beyond humans to include ani­mals, plants, ecosys­tems, and ances­tors – expand­ing the notion of what con­sti­tutes com­mu­ni­ty and kin­ship and blur­ring the bina­ry of care-giv­er and recipient?

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Call for con­tri­bu­tions to a Stream on “Tox­i­c­i­ty in Africa”
ECAS 2025 con­fer­ence Prague
June 25–28, 2025

Dead­line for paper sub­mis­sions: 15th Decem­ber 2024.

Orga­niz­ers: Wen­zel Geissler, Natal­ie Jas, Susan Levine, Ruth Prince, Nick Rahi­er, Noe­mi Tou­sig­nant, Miri­am Waltz.

Pan­el 1: Tox­ic accu­mu­la­tions: expo­sure, growth and envi­ron­ment in Africa.

This pan­el exam­ines cir­cu­la­tions, absorp­tions and accu­mu­la­tions of tox­ic sub­stances at dif­fer­ent scales, through and into bod­ies, organ­isms and mate­ri­als, ecolo­gies and land­scapes, explor­ing entan­gle­ments with extrac­tion, growth and devel­op­ment, and how forms of tox­i­c­i­ty are noticed and act­ed upon.

Orga­niz­ers: Ruth Prince and Noe­mi Tousignant

Pan­el 2. Pes­ti­cide pol­i­tics in Africa: glob­al cir­cu­la­tion, pro­duc­tion, research and reg­u­la­tion of agrochemicals.

Pes­ti­cides cir­cu­late glob­al­ly, move between sites of pro­duc­tion and use, con­nect lab­o­ra­to­ries, board­rooms and leg­is­la­tions, pen­e­trate sub­strates, bio­ta and ecolo­gies, cut across scale from atmos­pheres to cells, and, per­sist­ing in bod­ies and envi­ron­ments, they mark tem­po­ral­i­ties and cut across times. 

Orga­niz­ers: Wen­zel Geissler and Nathalie Jas

Round­table Dis­cus­sion: Pes­ti­cide pol­i­tics in Africa: agro­chem­i­cal inten­si­fi­ca­tion, agro­chem­i­cal harm, and the search for alter­na­tive forms of growth.

In this round­table experts and activists from var­i­ous dis­ci­plines will dis­cuss recent inten­si­fi­ca­tions of agri­cul­tur­al pro­duc­tion, rang­ing from indus­tri­alised plan­ta­tions to small-scale farm­ing – dri­ven by indus­try pres­sure and (some) donor poli­cies, fuelled by grow­ing agro­chem­i­cal input and chang­ing land-use, linked by new finan­cial and prop­er­ty regimes – as well as reflect on the search for alter­na­tive forms of sus­tain­able food production.

Link: https://www.ecasconference.org/2025/call-for-papers/ (the pan­els are under “Anthro­pol­o­gy”

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