As Reyes and Chirindo posit, the Anthropocene signifies “the generalization of precarity that was once concentrated among those disempowered through perceived racial and gender differences” (2020). Therefore, a reassessment of gendered subjectivity is essential for the field of American studies to develop a nuanced understanding of gender in the Anthropocene.

The symposium welcomes contributions that challenge heteronormative paradigms within American studies. The symposium specifically encourages papers that examine heteronormative ideals and hopes to point out the necessity of analyzing representations of masculine ideals shaping the narrative of the Anthropocene, which often silences the experiences of women and other marginalized groups.

Furthermore, the symposium aims to generate critical discourse on how to approach intersectional environmental activism in a way that advances gender justice, health, economic opportunity, reproductive rights, and the dismantling of class oppression, racism, and colonialism. Ultimately, the symposium seeks ideas to improve the lives of women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and marginalized groups globally.

We encourage paper proposals that consider and examine concepts, ideas, and thoughts within American studies that discuss gender in the Anthropocene.

Specifically, but not exclusively, we invite abstracts on the following topics:

• Gendered experiences around climate change and environmental degradation (disproportionate impacts, vulnerabilities, and resistances)
• Indigenous women and environmental knowledge systems
• Gender, social justice, and environmental movements
• The role of gender in environmental policy and governance
• Environmental politics and forms of gendered political representation and visibility / invisibility
• Feminist political ecology and the Anthropocene
• Gender and resource extraction (e.g., mining, deforestation)
• Displacement and migration due to environmental factors
• Gender, technology, and the environment
• Gendered inequalities in the production and consumption of food and energy
• The relationship between gender and environmental disasters
• Intersectionality of gender with race, class, and other social identities in the Anthropocene
• The role of masculinity in environmental degradation
• Counterhegemonic rhetoric in subjective renderings of gender
• Gender and climate solutions (e.g., renewable energy, sustainable agriculture)
• Gender and the representation of the Anthropocene in art, literature, and media
• The role of women in environmental conservation efforts
• Gender and disaster risk reduction
• The ethics of care and the Anthropocene
• The relationship between gender and environmental education
• Gendered Anthropocenes in speculative fiction

We encourage submissions from a wide range of disciplines, including:

• Gender studies
• Critical feminist studies
• Environmental studies
• Ecocriticism
• Literature
• Cultural studies
• Sociology
• Anthropology
• Political science
• Art history

Please submit proposals of up to 300 words, together with a bio note of approximately 150 words, by November 4, 2024, to eaaswomensnetwork@gmail.com. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out at the beginning of December. The symposium is planned as a hybrid event, with both in-person and online attendance possible. 

EAAS Women’s Network: 

Christen Bryson

Marie Dücker

Anne-Marie Evans

Abigail Fagan

Johanna Pitteti-Heil

Anna Kurowicka

Local organizers: 

Maria Holmgren Troy

Anna Linzie

Zdravka Katinic