Relational Values special issue: Please consider submitting an abstract!
Rachelle Gould
Dear SSWG,
Perhaps some of you have heard about the concept of “relational values” – preferences, principles and virtues about human-nature relationships. A number of scholars (including myself!) are discussing this idea as a hopefully meaningful alternative discussion of intrinsic vs. instrumental “values of ecosystems” (i.e., part of the debate surrounding ecosystem services) as the only forms of value in town. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, and want to be, see Chan et al., 2016* and Pascual et al, 2017*.
As a next step in this conversation, the journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability* (COSUST) is launching a special issue on relational values. See below and attached for details, and please consider submitting an abstract.
Types of contributions can include: reviews (of scholarship in a variety of disciplines) on relational values; reviews that delve into evidence available about particular relational concepts (e.g., kinship); conceptual contributions; contributions that link relational values to metrics and indicators or decision-making initiatives.
The special issue is co-edited by Kai Chan (University of British Columbia), Rachelle Gould (University of Vermont) and Unai Pascual (Basque Centre for Climate Change).
Deadline for submission of extended abstracts is 1 September 2017. The editors are more than happy to answer inquiries via email (relational...@gmail.com) prior to that date.
Again, please see the full call (copied below) for further information. Thank you!
Rachelle Gould | Assistant Professor
Rubenstein School of Natural Resources | University of Vermont
*Links (for those who receive this email in plain text):
Chan article: http://www.pnas.org/content/113/6/1462.short
Pascual article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343517300040
ENTIRE CALL:
Open call for review papers
Special issue on Relational Values
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
The journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (COSUST) is launching a special issue to be published in 2018 on relational values.
As communities and nations around the world grapple with environmental change and the challenge of sustainability, there is increasing attention to the role that values play and might play in enabling stewardship and transformation. Furthermore, there is a widening view of values to extend beyond the appreciation of nature itself (intrinsic values) and the appreciation of what nature does for us (instrumental values), to include preferences, principles and virtues about human-nature relationships (relational values). By giving a common framework for ideas long studied in a range of disciplines, the concept of relational values may serve as a tool for interdisciplinary integration and the meaningful inclusion of the social sciences and interdisciplinary approaches on values into sustainability science.
In order to realize this opportunity, the special issue will seek a range of contributions. First, to provide the foundation for interdisciplinary exchange, submissions are welcome that review the history of scholarship in a variety of disciplines on relational values, including methods and findings. Second, because relational values encompass a diversity of separable concepts (e.g., kinship, stewardship, responsibility for nature, responsibility for people affected by environmental change), reviews are sought to delve into the range of evidence available about particular relational concepts. Third, conceptual contributions are welcome that seek to lay the conceptual and methodological foundations for an interdisciplinary study of relational values. Fourth, given the existence of national and international initiatives that assess environmental trends and future scenarios toward understanding transitions to more sustainable futures, contributions are also encouraged to link relational values metrics and indicators with such existing initiatives (e.g., sub-global ecosystem assessments, assessments being carried out by IPBES, TEEB, etc.). All contributions are encouraged to consider how relational values have facilitated or impeded societal change in the past and the possibilities for such facilitation or impediment in the future.
The special issue is co-edited by Kai Chan (University of British Columbia), Rachelle Gould (University of Vermont) and Unai Pascual (Basque Centre for Climate Change). It is envisaged that the special issue will constitute 10-12 papers following a standard, high quality double blind refereeing process closely managed by the co-editors in collaboration with COSUST.
The special issue would be relevant for a wide readership and especially for people engaged in various disciplines such as sustainability science, environmental ethics, environmental psychology, environmental sociology, ecological economics, anthropology, and associated fields. Potential authors are welcome to check two recent publications on this topic where relational values are introduced (Chan et al., 2016) and connected to current science-policy approaches regarding environmental values (Pascual et al, 2017).
The aim of the manuscripts should be to review key literature, with particular emphasis on literature published in the past two years whenever possible. In addition to describing recent trends on relational values, authors are encouraged to offer their opinion of the topic, although they should not concentrate unduly on their own research. In addition, the review is intended to be a concise view of the field as it is at the moment, rather than a comprehensive overview, accessible to a wide readership and thus jargon is to be avoided while being accurate and precise throughout. Thus, the manuscript should be approximately 2000 words (not including references or reference notes), with approximately 50 references and, as such (check full guidelines for authors).
Abstract submission guidelines:
The extended abstract (up to 500 words) should contain information about the objective of the paper, data and methodological approach, including chosen approach for carrying out the review of the topics, and key results. Affiliation information of the corresponding author (including email and telephone number) and name and affiliation details of all coauthors should also be provided.
The extended abstracts should be submitted by email to relational...@gmail.com
Relevant dates:
Call for papers open: June 2017
Deadline for submission of extended abstracts: 1 September 2017
Submission of full papers due: 1 March 2018
1st round of decisions communicated to authors: 1 June 2018
Authors’ revised manuscript submission due: 1 August 2018
Follow up decision communicated to authors: 1 October 2018
Full special issue to be published at the end of 2018. The online version of the papers will be published online by COSUST as soon as the papers are accepted by the journal.
For any inquiry please contact relational...@gmail.com