Call for Participants - EMERGENCY CLIMATES workshop - 26 May 2025 / Melbourne
Timothy Neale
Date: Monday 26 May 2025
Location: Deakin Downtown, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
This 1-day in-person workshop will explore the concept of "emergency" in a time marked by both climate crisis and adaptation. It investigates the role of emergency management agencies, systems, infrastructures, and practitioners in a period of both intensifying environmental hazards and increasing political controversy regarding their management. To what extent is emergency management affected by crises or emergencies in its own foundations and roles? How are different jurisdictions addressing the climate as a threat or emergency? Are existing critical accounts of emergencies - for example as suspensions of norms or “states of exception” - sufficient to critical analysis of the present moment? We invite colleagues in the social sciences, humanities, and other fields to present their research on these and related topics, examining the meaning of “emergency” today.
Those interested in participating in the workshop should submit a 200-word abstract outline of their intended presentation and 150-word biography by 11 April 2025. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by 23 April 2025. Accepted participants will be expected to contribute to panel discussions at the workshop and discuss their research in short presentations (20 minutes).