Why is Humanity Failing Itself? The Politics of Climate Inaction and Assured Precarious Future

Kuriakose Mathew Announcement
Location
India
Subject Fields
Environmental History / Studies, Political Science, Social Sciences, Sociology, Urban History / Studies

Amity Journal of Social Sciences

Call for Papers

The ‘premature arrival’ of climate crises, from climate change-induced famine in Madagascar to frequent wildfires even in temperate and polar climatic zones to flashfloods in cities across the world, has proven than even the most pessimistic forecasts were rather optimistic. There is accelerated destruction, induced by climate change, which touches the lives of all beings on Planet Earth. Humanity has ensured that all living beings, including ourselves, are becoming endangered lives, whether they belong to a critically endangered species or not. We may already be marching towards a state of affairs which can be termed as ‘assured precarious future’.

Climate change, at least some catastrophic aspects of it, is still reversible, some optimistic projections say. Even if climate change is reversible, we do not yet know if humanity will act to reverse it.  We are perhaps more uncertain about the possibility of ‘we doing what we ought to do’ than the probability of the reversibility of climate change.  The way humanity (aspire to) lives will take us all to an assured precarious future, if not extinction. Still, we refuse to change.

This is the most haunting question of our apocalyptic times: why is humanity failing itself? Why are we, as a species, not sufficiently bothered about survival, of our own and of other species? Why are we not doing enough to save life on Earth despite knowing that we can make a difference before it is too late? We continue to assert, often somewhat religiously, our human agency even in trivial matters but we refuse to acknowledge our agency in saving lives and saving the Earth. How do we explain our affirmation of ‘non-agency’ or ‘absence of collective will’ when it comes to stopping climate change?  Have we already resigned to accepting whatever may be in the offing?

The inaugural issue of Amity Journal of Social Sciences will explore what prevents us from a decisive break from our destructive ways of relating to nature and our failure to become life-affirming societies. We invite research articles (4000-6000 words) and short essays (2000-2500 words) from across the social science disciplines and approaches in the following thematic areas.

Theorizing Humanity’s Collective Failure on the Face of Climate Crisis

How do we examine the collective failure of humanity in confronting climate crisis as a matter of (lack of) collective thinking and collective action? Can we have a theory of climate inaction? What are the eerie parallels between climate inaction and the long history of inaction when faced with genocides, wars and pandemics?

Humanity’s Other Obsessions

Why people are often tend to be motivated into political action by ‘trivial issues or imagined crises’ compared to the increasingly ordinarily-comprehensible signs of global warming and climate change? How are various social movements based on nationalist, ethnic, religious and identitarian concerns seemingly more successful than politics of climate action? 

The Politics of Assured Precarious Future

How are we, as an intelligent species capable of voluntary action, coping with the idea of living with an assured precarious future? Is humanity gripped by fatalism and cynicism and consequently resigned into climate inaction? How does the politics of assured precarious future alter human sensibilities towards fellow humans, other beings and nature itself? Will the knowledge of assured precarious future lead us into a new politics of salvation or to ‘common ruin of the contending classes’?

The Politics of Climate Inaction in the Global South

What are the region-specific social, political and economic factors in the Global South that shape climate inaction? How do various social and political movements in the developing world (attempt to) address the issue of climate inaction?

The Politics of Climate Inaction in the Global North

What are the region-specific social, political and economic factors in the Global North that shape climate inaction? How do various state and non-state actors in the developed world (attempt to) address the issue of climate inaction?

The Ideologies of Climate Inaction and Passivity towards Precarious Future

How do we understand and explain the rise of various ideologies that deny, underplay or overlook climate change? How do we explain the continuing passivity towards the precarious future of climate crises?

Reclaiming Human Agency for Collective Action on Climate Change

Is it possible to articulate a new politics centered on reclaiming ‘human agency for collective action’ for launching globally coordinated and locally rooted climate action programs? Do we need to radically redefine the very conception of human agency and collective action to ensure our collective survival? How do we reconcile the issues and concerns of particular communities in specific regions and the greater good of humanity and conceive a universal, actionable political program of climate action?

Abstract Submission

Deadline:  30th September 2021.

Word Limit: 150 words plus 5 Keywords

Email your abstract at ajsskolkata@gmail.com

Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by 7th October 2021. The final article/essay should be submitted by 15 November 2021.

About the Journal

The Amity Journal of Social Sciences is a peer reviewed, bi-annual online journal published by Amity Institute of Social Sciences, Amity University Kolkata, India. It is a multidisciplinary journal that intends to encourage transdisciplinary explorations on the pressing issues of humanity, especially region-specific concerns across the world, combining insights from political science, sociology, geography, history and environmental studies. We are open to publishing both quantitative and qualitative research and theoretical articles that shed light on understanding the complexities of the contemporary.

Contact Information

Dr. Kuriakose Mathew

Assistant Professor

Amity School of Social Sciences

Amity University Kolkata

Major Arterial Road(South-East), AA II, Rajarhat, Newtown, West Bengal 700135

Contact Email
kmathew@amity.edu