Pleas note: The deadline for abstracts have been extended to July 15. Please submit your proposal before this date!

 

The TRANSNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ECOLOGY (TRISE) is glad to announce its third annual conference, in Patras, Greece, from 28^th to 31^st of August 2015 titled “The Power to Create, The Power to Destroy”.

With this general theme – taken from Murray Bookchins manifesto-like essay from 1970 – we want to address the double-sided nature of our time, discussing both the destructive forces of global capitalism and the creative response from social movements.

TRISE is a transnational network of activists/researchers concerned with both ecology and the development of today’s cities. Our research aims at considering, under the lens of social ecology, the current urban public policy as well as of the experience of social movements in their attempts to address the urban question, from a theoretical perspective, offering practical solutions. We aim at working in partnership with civil society, as a forum for the exchange of ideas and knowledge.

Our annual conference provides a moment for reflecting together on the current situation in Europe, in a fruitful conversation of theories and practices. We are thus welcoming any intervention that aims at addressing one of the following sub-themes, on which our conference will be based:

1. Social Ecology and the City

Cities today are more and more at the forefront of the environmental and social crisis. They represent both one of the major cause of the aggravation of these crisis, but also a potential solution to them. Social ecology has elaborated a robust body of theory on this topic that can help us understand better how to ecologically transform the urban.

In this session we welcome contributions that analyse the urban from a social ecology perspective or that tries to enhance social ecology theory as a tool to change the city.

2. Social Ecology in Practice

Social movements worldwide today increasingly emphasize the connection between social and ecological issues, and calls for direct democracy and decentralisation. The Kurdish revolution in particular is awaking our imaginary, demonstrating that building a revolutionary society that resonates with the principles of social ecology is possible and happening.

In this session we welcome contributions that aim at understanding how to put in practice a society based on horizontality, either narrating and analysing existing experiences or envisioning new possibilities.

3. Academia, Activism and Social Change

The role of academia has always been controversial. On one side Universities are more and more forced to align with the neoliberal agenda; on the other side they are a space of radical thinking.

In this session we aim at discussing the role of various actors in building social change, focussing in particular on the possibilities and limits of the exchange between activism and academia in support of the current struggles.

4. Europe in Crises and Revolts

Europe is currently crossed by a series of economic and social crisis that are showing us the limits of the current system, exacerbating the living conditions of the poor. These crises, however, also represent a possibility for a different rebirth, a space in which the necessity allow alternative economies and practices to solidify and grow.

In this session we would like to analyse the today crisis and possible answers, looking at how grassroots movements are fighting for a post-scarcity society.

We welcome abstracts from activists and scholars by 15^th of July and we welcome contribution in the form of paper presentations or workshop.  If you wish to take part, please submit a short abstract (max 300 words) explaining the content of your talk or workshop, including a short CV briefing (about 5 lines).

Send your proposal to:  trise.program@inventati.org

For the TRISE Programme Committee,

Ersilia Verlinghieri and Svante Malmström