International Society for Environmental Ethics
21st Annual Summer Meeting
Environmental Change and Democracy
The 21st annual summer meeting of the International Society for Environmental Ethics (ISEE) will convene from Monday, June 24 to Wednesday, June 26, 2024, at the University of Fribourg Environmental Sciences and Humanities Institute, in Switzerland, and online. The intention is to have a primarily in-person event, however a limited number of slots for online participation will also be available.
We invite presentations in any topic in environmental philosophy. However, we particularly encourage proposals for talks concerning issues related to the conference theme, Environmental Change and Democracy.
Environmental challenges increasingly reveal new intersections between environmental ethics and political theory, raising questions both about how we should structure our political systems in response to environmental change and how we should adapt our forms of representation to accommodate new conceptions of environmental value and justice.
Environmental ethics also raises more fundamental questions for political theory. Traditionally, it was widely accepted that only human beings can form and be represented by political communities. However, with new developments in ethical thought about nonhuman animals and other natural entities, this demarcation has come under increasing criticism. Climate change has also made clear the need to consider the interests of future generations, both human and non-human. These new developments raise the question of how to include other species, environmental entities, and future generations; and whether doing so could justify placing limits on human self-determination in just political systems.
Environmental change also threatens democratic systems themselves: by exacerbating preexisting injustices, the flaws in old systems become undisguisable, and the increasing strain of such changes can lead to a rise in authoritarianism and reactionary ideologies. Conversely, new environmental challenges may demand new political systems if we are to respond adequately and quickly. These issues challenge the notion of the ideal political system in times of rapid environmental change.
Topics related to this year’s conference theme may include, among others, the challenges that environmental problems raise for current forms of democracy; the representation of non-human beings in politics; democracy and environmental justice; interspecies and intergenerational justice and political self-determination; nature experiences and politics; natural values and democratic decision-making.
Submission guidelines
Abstracts (max. 500 words) should be submitted in anonymous form through the form below. The deadline for submission is January 7, 2024. Decisions will be announced by March 1, 2024.
Prospective participants may apply to present in one of two formats, both of which provide 45 min. in total per paper. The first option is a 15-20 min. presentation, followed by 25-30 min. of Q&A; the second option is a 10-15 min. presentation, followed by a short commentary, then Q&A. Presentations followed by a commentary require a written text to be submitted to the commenter by June 1, 2024.
We strongly encourage and specifically consider the submissions of graduate students. Additionally, we encourage members of underrepresented groups in academia to submit an abstract. We also encourage participants planning to travel to this conference to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
For co-authored papers, please indicate in the form how many authors plan to attend the conference if the paper is accepted, and which author(s) will be presenting.
Please contact us if you do not receive an automatic confirmation of your submission.
Program
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Welcome & Day 1
Date/room
Time
Event
June 23
TBA18:00
Informal Welcoming Night
Date/room
Time
Event
June 24
MS teams link
Day 1: Climate Justice and Fairness, Carbon Dioxide Removal, Eco-Democracy
PER 14
(Room TBA)09:10-09:30
Welcome (by Marion Hourdequin and Ivo Wallimann-Helmer)
PER 14
(Room TBA)09:30-10:15
Speaker 1: Luke Elson (University of Reading) online
Voting for Emissions LimitsChair: Ivo Wallimann-Helmer / Commentator: Blake Francis
PER 14
(Room TBA)
10:15-11.00
Speaker 2: Britta Clark (Harvard University)
Can Carbon Removal Make Climate Change Fair?
Chair: Ivo Wallimann-Helmer / Commentator: Kian Mintz-Woo
PER 14
11:00-11:15
Coffee Break
PER 14
(Room TBA)
11.15-12.00
Speaker 3: Constant Bonard (University of Bern)
Is Emotion Key to Climate Change Mitigation?
Chair: Kathrin von Allmen / Commentator: Simona Capisani
12:00-13:15
Lunch
PER 14
(Room TBA)13:15-14:00
Speaker 4: Christian Rhugwasanye (Olivia University Burundi)
Environmental Policy Systems Based on Local Contexts and Challenges: The Case of Africa
Chair: Marion Hourdequin / Commentator: Evelyn BristerPER 14
(Room TBA)14:00-14:45
Speaker 5: Jonathan Kwan (New York University Abu Dhabi)
Confucian Eco-Democracy
Chair: Marion Hourdequin
14:45-15:00
Coffee Break
PER 14
(Room TBA)
15:00-15:45
Speaker 6: Giulio Pennacchio (Vita-Salute San Raffaele University)
Sustainable Horizons: Navigating Democracy and Climate Challenges
Chair: Ilias Voiron / Commentator: Soumyajit Bhar
PER 14
(Room TBA)
15.45-16:30
Speaker 7: Stephen Gardiner (University of Washington) & Arthur Obst (Princeton University) online
Should We Fear the Tollkeepers? Defending the Tollgate Principles for Geoengineering Governance
Chair: Ilias Voiron
16:30-16:45
Coffee Break
PER 14
(Room TBA)
16:45-17:45
Keynote I: Ross Mittiga (University of Graz)
Violence and Climate ChangeChair: Tristan Katz / Commentator: Simon Kräuchi
PER 14
(Room TBA)18:00-19:00
ISEE Business Meeting
-
Day 2
Date/room
Time
Event
June 25
MS teams link
Day 2: Institutions, Decision-Making, Activism
PER 14
(Room TBA)09:15-10:00
Speaker 8: Lukas Tank & Christian Baatz (Christian Albrechts University Kiel)
Must Climate Protests Be Effective to Be Permissible?
Chair: ISEE Officer
PER 14
(Room TBA)10:00-10:45
Speaker 9: César Valenzula (Stanford University)
Advancing Democracy Through Climate Activism: The Case of Ecotage
Chair: ISEE Officer / Commentator: Rémi Beau
PER 14
10:45-11:00
Coffee Break
PER 14
(Room TBA)
11:00-11:45
Speaker 10: Lana Garcia (University of Colorado-Boulder)
An Ethics of Attention and Awe: Generating Democratic Decisions in Public Green Space
Chair: ISEE OfficerPER 14
(Room TBA)
11:45-12:30
Speaker 11: Laura García-Portela (University of Rotterdam)
How can National Courts Contribute Fairly to Climate Justice?
Chair: ISEE Officer / Commentator: Marion Hourdequin12:30-14:00
Lunch
PER 14
(Room TBA)14:00-14:45
Speaker 12: Richard Kover (University of Alberta)
Can an Agenda of Radical Economic Degrowth be Achieved Democratically? The Case for Radical Green Democratic Populism
Chair: Ilias Voiron
PER 14
(Room TBA)14:45-15:30
Speaker 13: Emnée van den Brandeler (University of Basel)
Institutional Epistemic Obligations and Interspecies Justice: Analyzing Decision-making in Zoonotic Outbreaks and Climate Policies
Chair: Ilias Voiron
16:30-16:45
Coffee Break
PER 14
(Room TBA)
15:50-16:50
Keynote II: Eva Meijer (University of Amsterdam)
Multispecies AssembliesChair: Kathrin von Allmen / Commentator: Tristan Katz
TBA
17:00-18:30
Poster Presentation (with reception)
Ludovico Giacomo Conti, Louisa Estadieu, Tristan Katz, Nin Kirkham, Simon Kräuchi, Gesine Schepers, Carlina Schreiber, Helena Schuch, Ilias Voiron
TBA
19:30
Conference Dinner
-
Day 3 & Hike
Date/room
Time
Event
June 26
MS teams link
Day 3: Non-human Species, Future Generations, Value Theory
PER 14
(Room TBA)09:30-10:15
Speaker 14: Angela Martin (University of Basel)
The Political Representation of Animals: Problems, Pitfalls and Solutions
Chair: ISEE Officer
PER 14
(Room TBA)10:15-11:00
Speaker 15: Christina Stadlbauer (Gent University)
Attuning to the Deep: On the Opportunities of Thinking with Art for an Ethics of the Deep SeaChair: ISEE Officer / Commentator: Tea Lobo
PER 14
(Room TBA)
11:00-11:15
Coffee Break
PER 14
(Room TBA)
11:15-12:00
Speaker 16: Linde de Vroey (University of Antwerp)
Democratising the Wild: Local Authority, Global Structures, and Democratic Potential in Rewilding
Chair: Simon Kräuchi / Commentator: Charles Hayes12:00-13:30
Lunch
PER 14
(Room TBA)
13:30-14:15
Speaker 17: Antonia Holland-Cunz (Christian Albrechts University Kiel)
From Humans, for Humans? Assessment Frameworks in Environmental Governance Beyond Anthropocentrism
Chair: ISEE Officer / Commentator: Martin DrenthenPER 14
(Room TBA)14:15-15:00
Speaker 18: Ela Tokay (State University of New York at Old Westbury)
Agency, Dualism, and Domination: Towards an Ecofeminist New Materialist PoliticsChair: ISEE Officer
15:00-15:15
Coffee Break
PER 14
(Room TBA)15:15-16:00
Speaker 19: Matthias Fritsch (Concordia University) online
The Turn-taking View of Democracy and Future Generations
Chair: Ivo Wallimann-Helmer / Commentator: Andrea Gammon
PER 14
(Room TBA)
16:00-16:45
Speaker 20: Robin Attfield (Cardiff University) online
Representing Future Generations and Non-human Species in Legislatures
Chair: Ivo Wallimann-Helmer
16:45-17:00
Coffee Break
PER 14
(Room TBA)
17:00 -18:00
Keynote III: Ronald Sandler (Northeastern University)
Should we Ameliorate ‘Nature’?
Chair: Simon Kräuchi / Commentator: Kathrin von Allmen
PER 14
(Room TBA)
18:00-18:15
Wrap-up
Chair: Marion Hourdequin and Ivo Wallimann-HelmerDate/room
Time
Event
June 27
09:30-17:00
Hike in the Region of Fribourg
Questions about the conference or the submission process can be directed to
Kathrin von Allmen kathrin.vonallmen@unifr.ch
Tristan Katz tristan.katz@unifr.ch
Simon Kräuchi simon.kraeuchi@unifr.ch
Ilias Voiron ilias.voiron@unifr.ch
Marion Hourdequin mhourdequin@coloradocollege.edu (ISEE)
ISEE Membership
To become a member of ISEE and get a discount on the conference fee please follow this link.
Hotel Information
The hotel reservation system is now open to everyone (active and non-active participants). The system works as follows: we have made room reservations in the four hotels listed below (price range from 105-150 CHF per night). After you have completed the registration, you will receive a confirmation email with a code for each hotel. You will then be able to contact the hotel with the code, which will give you access to the rooms we have booked. The rooms are reserved for 4 nights (23-27th of June). If you want to change this, please tell the hotel directly. If you do not receive the confirmation email, please contact us. (People who have allready registred bevore the 15.05 and reguested a hotel room do not need a 'code' and we will contact you shortly with a confirmation of the reservation).
The rooms booked by us are in one of the following hotels:
- Hotel Alpha (double rooms for single use / 10 min to campus by bus)
- Hotel de la Rose (double rooms for single use and single rooms / 15-20 min to campus by bus)
- Hotel du Faucon (double rooms for single use / 10-15 min to campus by bus)
- Hotel Hine Adon Fribourg City (single rooms / 15-20min to campus by bus)
All hotels are directly connected to campus by bus number 1. Additional connections are also available (however, you may need to change connections). All hotels would also be in a walking distance of the campus of about 15 to 30 min.
