CALLFORSUBMISSIONS

JournalofHaitianStudiesSpecialIssue:

ClimateChange,SacredEcologies,andEnvironmentalActivisminHaiti

SpecialIssueEditor:RebeccaDirksen,IndianaUniversity

Deadline:July31,2020

Photocredit:R.Dirksen,2012

Globallyweareconfrontedbyaprecariouslychangingclimate—inecological,political,economic,andspiritualterms.FewplacesfacemoreimmediateandprofoundconsequencesthanHaiti:amidpresentlyunfoldingpoliticalandeconomicturmoil,theGlobalClimateRiskIndexhasrepeatedlyrankedthecountryasamongthemostvulnerablenationsintheworldtotheeffectsofextremeweathereventsrelatedtoclimatechange(e.g.,Eckstein,Künzel,andSchäfer2017).Moreover,Haiti’secosystemshaveendurednumerouspressuresandthreatsextendingbackcenturiestotheearliestmomentsofcolonialconquest,resultinginspeciesdecline,soilerosion,deforestation,compromisedwatersources,andthedegradationofshorelinesandcoastalwaters,amongothersituationsoflossanddisruption.Suchchallengesinturnaffecttheviabilityofagriculture,publichealth,governanceandsovereignty,andothermattersatthecoreofhuman(andnon-human)life.

TogethertheseconditionsdemandthatwebecomemoreawareofourrolesintheconstructionoftheAnthropoceneasanepochdrivenbyunrestrainedextractivism(Crutzen2006).Theymandatethatwethinkcarefullyandcreativelyaboutbroadersystemsthathaveledtothispoint,includingthelong-churningslowviolencethatsystematicallyunderminescertainpeopleandprivilegesothers(Nixon2011,Paravisini-Gebert2016).Theyrequirethatwecommittoacttowardenvironmentaljusticeinwaysthatdrawinnotjustscholars,butcommunitymembersandactivistsbeyondinstitutionalsettings(Carteretal.2010).Theyinsistthatwequestionthestarkhuman-naturedualismthatexcusesourvoraciousappetitesforconsumerismwithacommonlyheldJudeo-Christianconvictionthatitis“God’swillthatmanexploitnatureforhisproperends”(White1967:1205).Theyaskustoconsidertheentanglements,mutualities,andsymbioticrelationshipsinthismultispeciesworld(Haraway2016).Theyreturnourattentiontotheindigenousworldviewsthatpromotetraditionalecologicalknowledge(Berkes1993),including,inHaiti,Vodouasasacredecologythatteachesecologicalmetaphysicsandenvironmentalawareness(Dirksen2018).Inrecognitionofthewealthofscholarshippresentedatthe2016HaitianStudiesAssociationconferenceonHaiti’secosystemsandenvironmentalrealitiesandinlinewiththegrowingglobalmomentumforclimatechangeactivism,theJournalofHaitianStudiesannouncesitscommitmenttoinvestigating“ClimateChange,SacredEcologies,andEnvironmentalActivisminHaiti.”Withthisspecialissue,weofferaplatformforcriticalandengagedscholarshipthatcaststheAnthropogenicconditionsintoadifferentlightandthatoffersrevisionstohowHaiti’senvironmentalchallengesarediscussedandconfronted.Weseekaccountsandstorylinesthatspeaktoecologicalmattersfrommultiplesperspectives:thesciences,thehumanities,thearts,medicalfields,spiritualdomains,andbeyond.Wehopetodiscoverinstancesofpracticalactivismandcultivateour“artsofnoticing”(Tsing2015).Weplaceemphasisonalternativemodesofthinking—forexample,onthevalueoftraditionalecologicalknowledgeandsacredecologies(emanatingfromVodouorotherAfro-Atlanticbeliefsystems,orChristianity,Judaism,Islam,Bahá’íFaith,etc.)tocommunicatemeaningfullyacrosssocio-economicdivides.Wethereforeissuethiswide-reachingcalltoscholars,activists,artists,healthcareproviders,spiritualpractitioners,andcommunitymemberswhohavesomethingtosayaboutHaiti’secosystemsandtheworldviewsthatshapeit.Inrecognizingthemanyvoicesandmodesofcommunication,wewillentertainavarietyofformatsandencouragecollaborativewriting.Toenablebroaderparticipation,weaskauthorstorestricttheirsubmissionsto8,000wordsorless.Sendsubmissionstojohs@cbs.ucsb.edubyJuly31,2020.Pleasefollowstylesubmissionguidelines,foundathttps://www.cbsr.ucsb.edu/journal-of-haitian-studies/submissions.Allsubmissionswillgothroughpeerreview.

ReferencesBeauvoir,Rachel.1995.“UndergroundRealmsofBeing:VodounMagic.”InSacredArtsofHaitianVodou,152-177.Ed.DonaldCosentino.LosAngeles:RegentsoftheUniversityofCalifornia.Berkes,Fikret.1993.“TraditionalEcologicalKnowledgeinPerspective.”InTraditionalEcologicalKnowledge:ConceptsandCases,1-6.Ed.JulianT.Inglis.Ottawa:InternationalProgramonTraditionalEcologicalKnowledge/InternationalDevelopmentResearchCentre.Carter,Majora,MirandaMassie,DavidPalmer,ElizabethYeampierre,andCarmenHuertas-Noble.2010“WhoseSurvival?EnvironmentalJusticeasaCivilRightsIssue.”CityUniversityofNewYorkLawReview13(2):257-290.Crutzen,PaulJ.2006.“The‘Anthropocene.’”InEarthSystemScienceintheAnthropocene,13-18.Eds.EckhartEhlersandThomasKrafft.Berlin:Springer.Dirksen,Rebecca.2018.“Haiti,SingingfortheLand,Sea,andSky:CultivatingEcologicalMetaphysicsandEnvironmentalAwarenessthroughMusic.”MUSICultures45(1-2):112-135.Eckstein,David,VeraKünzel,andLauraSchäfer.2017.“GlobalClimateRiskIndex2018:WhoSuffersMostFromExtremeWeatherEvents?Weather-relatedLossEventsin2016and1997to2016.”Bonn:Germanwatche.V.http://german-watch.org/en/cri(accessedMarch7,2018).Haraway,DonnaJ.2016.StayingwiththeTrouble:MakingKinintheChthulucene.Durham,NC:DukeUniversityPress.Nixon,Rob.2011.SlowViolenceandtheEnvironmentalismofthePoor.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress.Paravisini-Gebert,Lizabeth.2016.“Gadenanmizè-amtonbe:Vodou,the2010Earthquake,andHaiti’sEnvironmentalCatastrophe.”InTheCaribbean:Aesthetics,World-Ecology,Politics,63-77.Ed.ChrisCampbellandMichaelNiblett.Liverpool:LiverpoolUniversityPress.Tarter,Andrew.2015.“TreesinVodou:AnArbori-culturalExploration.”JournalfortheStudyofReligion,Nature,andCulture9(1):87-112.Tsing,AnnaLowenhaupt.2016.TheMushroomattheEndoftheWorld:OnthePossibilityofLifeinCapitalistRuins.Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUniversityPress.White,Lynn,Jr.1967.“TheHistoricalRootsofOurEcologicalCrisis.”Science,NewSeries155(3767):1203-1207.