O sécula (2012), by Cinthia Marcelle

Call for Papers: Canadian Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, August 11-15, 2013

Special Session: Waste and indeterminacy

Waste foments a lively conversation in geography, the social sciences, engineering, and the humanities. Specific topics proliferate – plastic bags and bottles, ocean waste, shipbreaking, e-waste, (in)formal economization, household recycling, landfilling, and sewage to name only a few – but a recurrent theme in what might be called waste- or discard studies is the indeterminacy of waste. It seems impossible to definitively ascertain, calculate, or identify waste once and for all or always and everywhere. Yet, this very indeterminacy also seems to be positive in a sense: it is a potent place from which to engage fundamental questions about epistemology, ontology, ethics, and justice for example. It generates exciting theoretical and practical interventions of many different kinds inside and outside the academy. This special session seeks papers that work with waste, understood broadly, and its indeterminacy. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

Deadline for abstracts to be received by the organizer: Friday March 1st , 2013. Please e-mail title and abstract to jlepawsky@mun.ca .

Conference webiste: http://www.mun.ca/cag2013/index.php