SAFRIG Mini-Conference Call for Papers

As part of SAFRIG’s contribution to the RSS 75^th anniversary celebration , we will convene a mini-conference in Chicago on July 26^th, 2012. This is the day of the Presidential Address and the day before the annual meeting program begins in earnest.

The mini-conference is designed to allow us to have an extended collective dialogue on a theme that we believe will be of general interest. While we welcome astracts from people who are not SAFRIG members, we are particularly eager to attract interest from our membership in order to advance the cohesion and intellectual vibrancy of the group. The mini-conference planning committee consists of Steven Wolf, Alessandro Bonanno and Wynne Wright.

Find the call for papers below, and you are invited to distribute and post widely. Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago.

Call for Papers

The Neoliberal Regime in Agri-Food: Crisis, Resilience and/or Restructuring

Mini-conference organized by the Rural Sociological Society (RSS), Sociology of Agri-food Research Interest Group (SAFRIG)

July 26, 2011

Palmer House, Chicago Illinois

For the last three decades, the Neoliberal regime has shaped production and consumption processes in agriculture and food. At present, social instability and protest, economic recessions, political uncertainties and ecological degradation and risks have prompted claims that we now confront a systemic crisis. The regulatory mechanisms and patterns of material flow that constitute the contemporary agri-food regime are implicated in contemporary global insecurities, both physical and metaphysical on an unprecedented scale. The capacity to maintain the legitimacy and material coherence of the neoliberal regime is in doubt. We propose a one-day mini-conference devoted to an informed, constructive dialogue and debate around the thesis that we have reached some institutional and material limit. Is the neoliberal regime exhausted? Are we at the outset of a new regime? And if so, what are the opportunities and risks linked to the construction of a new regime? Of course, in contemplating radical restructuring we must account for the historical capacity of agri-food governance to deflect critique, co-opt rivals and sustain the unsustainable. We seek to advance understanding of the evidence supporting claims of rupture of, or incursions to, the Neoliberal model. We also seek to encourage the submission of papers that develop programmatic outlines of pragmatic responses to these critiques including policy initiatives, social mobilization and research targeted at various scales and points of entry.

This mini-conference celebrates the 75^th anniversary of the Rural Sociological Society and SAFRIG’s rich tradition of conceptualizing agriculture and food as reflecting and structuring larger developmental processes. We seek theoretical contributions that address overarching debates regarding systemic crisis, including papers that address financialization, ecological overshoot, the status of nation states, transnational agents, market logic and civil society in governance and the prospects for realization of democratic ideals. We also seek empirical contributions that explore particular aspects of crisis and responses, including the potential for continued resilience, a neo-productivist return, as well as the emergence of new alternative models and scaling up of new or existing alternative models.

We invite submission of abstracts from all interested people through the RSS Annual meeting webpage (go to http://ruralsociology.org/). Deadline for abstracts is February 15^th 2012. Include the phrase “SAFRIG mini-conference” in the title of your abstract to differentiate it from regular submissions to the RSS annual meeting. Authors of papers selected for the mini-conference will contribute a 3000 word paper by June 15^th, which we will post online in order enhance the quality of scholarly exchange during the mini-conference. Questions can be directed to Steven Wolf at saw44@cornell.edu.

Position Announcement

EcoAgriculture Partners

Food Security and Climate Resilience Consultant

Posted December 15, 2011

EcoAgriculture Partners seeks to hire a half-time Consultant for 5-6 months, to contribute to an exciting project developing landscape scale strategies for “climate smart” agriculture that improve livelihood security and resilience of farmers and their communities while concurrently protecting and restoring ecosystem services. The Consultant will be a member of the professional team that will implement the project. The work will begin in January, 2012. The Consultant may be based in the Washington, DC area or near Ithaca, New York and Cornell University, or possibly elsewhere.

Primarily, the Consultant will prepare a paper on approaches to achieving food security and ecological resilience for at-risk households and communities engaged in agriculture and natural resource management in the face of climate change. The paper will be based principally on a comprehensive review of scholarly and grey literatures related to linkages between food security/poverty alleviation and agroecosystem/ecosystem management. The Consultant will explore economic, sociological and policy literatures as well as literatures linked to international development programs concerned with food relief, food security and poverty alleviation through agriculture and natural resource management in the context of climate resilience, adaptation and mitigation goals. The paper will suggest ways that programs and projects might be designed and implemented to deliver food security and ecosystems benefits through integrated investments and management systems.

The paper will be organized around a framework for analyzing potential interfaces between ecosystem management at farm, community and landscape scales, and food security and resilience in the face of threats from drought and natural resource degradation. Through research for the paper and interaction with other team members the consultant will help to elaborate the framework. The Consultant also will conduct interviews with strategically selected informants to inform the paper. The paper will be distributed at “Rio+20” in June 2012, and submitted to an appropriate journal for publication. A draft of the paper, in written or power point format (to be determined) will be presented for feedback and input at the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Forum in Nairobi, in March 2011. http://landscapes.ecoagriculture.org/

Required skills and experience:

• Masters degree in natural resources, agriculture, development economics, regional planning, international development, policy, development sociology or a related field;

• Experience working on food security, disaster management and/or ecosystem resilience issues and analysis;

• Excellent analysis and writing skills;

• High level of organization and self-direction; and

• English fluency.

Desirable:

• Field work in developing countries

• Spanish and French language.

Compensation:

• $2,000 - $3,225/month for half-time work depending on experience

To apply:

Please email your curriculum vitae; a cover letter stating your interest in and qualifications for this position; a sample of your scholarly/academic writing on a topic related to this position; and, names and contact information for two references, with subject line Consultant – [your name] to Courtney Wallace, cwallace@ecoagriculture.org. Review of applications will commence as they are received and continue until this position is filled.

EcoAgriculture Partners is a non-profit organization that works to facilitate sustainable food production, rural livelihoods, and environmental conservation through integrated approaches to rural landscape management. The organization does so by providing training, research, policy solutions, and support to farmers, communities, and organizations at the local, national and international levels. To learn more about EcoAgriculture Partners, visit our website at www.ecoagriculture.org.