Theorizing the Just City in the Era of Climate Change

CFP AAG 2019: Theorizing the Just City in the Era of Climate Change

Co-Organizers: Joshua Long (Southwestern), Jennifer L. Rice (University of Georgia), and Anthony Levenda (Arizona State University)

Climate change, as both a socio-ecological process and a policy issue, is dramatically changing urban environments and the practices of local governance. Whether ignored completely, or a chief concern among urban planners and policymakers, we are now in an age of “climate urbanism” (Long & Rice 2018) where resilience, preparedness, and adaptation to a changing climate are essential problems for urban governance. The patchwork of action and inaction on climate change in the world’s cities, furthermore, has created a complex landscape of socio-environmental injustice. For example, where local policies on climate change have been enacted, scholars have noted that many of these policies and programs are likely to exacerbate urban inequality, further marginalize underrepresented populations, and reinforce environmental privilege through securitization and militarization (While et al. 2010; Oels 2013; Marzec 2016; Hodson & Marvin 2017; Long & Rice 2018). In urban areas where officials have not acted on climate change, essential infrastructures are threatened, marginalized populations are left vulnerable to extreme weather events, and carbon-fueled capitalism remains unchallenged or unregulated. As such, we suggest that the only challenge greater than building the climate resilient city is building the socially just and equitable climate resilient city. We argue that this is becoming increasingly difficult as the world transitions from the planning paradigm of sustainable urbanism to one of “climate urbanism.” This session seeks contributions from scholars considering questions of climate change from the intersection of social/environmental justice and urban theory.

We invite scholars interested in advancing theoretical perspectives on this area of research to submit abstracts related to urban equity and/or justice in any of the topics below. We invite all perspectives and disciplinary concentrations; however, recognizing that much of the research on these topics has traditionally come from scholars in the global north, we especially encourage scholars who focus on cities of the global south and/or marginalized populations of cities in the global north.

We are seeking potential panelists and presenters on the following topics:

- Housing Affordability and Accessibility in the Era of Climate Change

- Smart Urbanism and Climate Change

- White Privilege, Environmental Racism, and Climate Action

- Transportation and Access in the Climate Resilient City

- Financing the Climate Resilient City

- Climate-Oriented and Climate-Friendly Infrastructure

- Urban Migration, Surveillance, and Securitization in the Era of Climate Change

- Digital Infrastructure in the Era of Climate Change

- Corporate Power and Political Influence in the Climate-Friendly City

Interested participants should send abstracts to jlong@southwestern.edu, jlrice@uga.edu, and anthony.levenda@asu.edu by October 8th. Please indicate your preference for a panel, paper session, or no preference. We hope to notify selected participants of their acceptance by October 15th. Please feel free to email the co-organizers with questions.