The Voice of Nature

The Voice of Nature

Veranstalter
Dr. Liesbeth van de Grift; dr. Wim van Meurs, History Department, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Netherlands
Veranstaltungsort
Soeterbeeck Study Centre
Ort
Ravenstein (near Nijmegen, Netherlands)
Land
Netherlands
Vom - Bis
23.04.2014 - 24.04.2014
Deadline
20.04.2014
Website
Von
Liesbeth van de Grift

„The Voice of Nature“

Whether it is the earthquakes in the northeast of the Netherlands caused by natural gas extraction, the long-term consequences of Chernobyl or Fukushima or deforestation, the politics of environmentalism is a hot topic, both in the public debate and in academia. The contested nature of the environment is not unique to our time, as the rise of environmental movements in the 1970s illustrates. But even before that, “nature” was a topic of heated political debate and struggle. Ever since the modern state increasingly intervened in nature, the effects of industrialisation and economic modernisation on nature became undeniable, and an increasing number of citizens demanded voice in the 19th century, nature has been at the heart of modern politics.

Strikingly, even though the political nature of “nature” can hardly be denied, political historians have left its study largely to colleagues from the other (sub) disciplines. In studying this topic, political scientists meet cultural historians, ecologists meet legal experts, and public administration experts share their research object with biologists. Political historians, however, are largely absent.

We argue that it is imperative for historians of modern-day politics to join in and catch up. For that reason, we have crafted the research programme “The Voice of Nature”, in which we aim to chart “the politics of nature” in the 19th and 20th centuries and analyse it as one of claim-making and contention in the name of a variety of interests: economic modernisation and profitability, scientific expertise and progress, the liveability of citizens or future generations, or the sanctity of nature as such. We aim to explain why some claims were rejected, while others were accepted and enforced, and show how the contention over “nature” led to new institutional arrangements and a redefinition of representative democracy as such.

The purpose of this workshop is to bring together scholars operating at the cross-section of several research interests: nature protection and management, expert cultures and governance studies, and environmental movements. Despite the overlap, in day-to-day academic life the various communities of scholars rarely meet and discuss the issue of environmentalism as a result of academic compartmentalisation. This workshop provides a platform to discuss and confront each other’s approaches and research questions and explore possible common ground.

The present workshop is the second meeting and the first international meeting in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Part of the agenda is to reflect on research questions and assumptions of the various disciplines in an informal setting, another part will be devoted to the discussion and assessment of the comparative research proposal “The Voice of Nature” on the politics of nature in, initially, a handful of Northwest-European polities.

Those interested are welcome to attend the workshop. They can register by sending an e-mail to Liesbeth van de Grift at l.vandegrift@let.ru.nl

Programm

Wednesday, 23 April

10:30 Arrival

11:00-12:30
Panel I: Protecting Nature

Anna-Katharina Wöbse (independent researcher, Umwelthistorische Recherche), The Late Career of a Dreary Land: A Transnational History of the Wadden Sea

Frank Uekötter (University of Birmingham), The Friendly Leviathan. Environmentalism and the State

12:30-13:30 Lunch

13:30-15:00
Panel II: Managing Nature

Clemens Driessen (Utrecht University / Wageningen University), Wild Experiments at the Oostvaardersplassen. Rethinking Environmentalism in the Anthropocene

Martin Drenthen (Radboud University Nijmegen), Reading the Landscape: A Hermeneutic Approach to Environmental Ethics

15:00-15:15 Coffee break

15:15-16:45
Panel III: Nature’s Experts

Raf de Bont (Maastricht University) Nature’s Diplomats. Ecological Experts and the Conservation of International Organisations (1920-2000)

Leon Lamers (Radboud University Nijmegen), Nature Policy and Environmental Management

Thursday, 24 April

9:00-10:30

Discussion: Research programme „The Voice of Nature“

10:30-11:30
Keynote: Jozef Keulartz (Wageningen University), From Government to Governance: The Legitimacy of Nature Conservation Policy

11:30-13:00
Panel IV: Nature’s Advocates

Astrid Mignon Kirchhof (Humboldt Universität Berlin), The Nature of the Cold War. GDR Nature Conservation Policy during the East-West Conflict from 1945 to 1990

Henny van der Windt (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), Nature Conservation in the Netherlands

13:00- Lunch and departure

[The programme may still be subject to minor changes. For a final version, contact Liesbeth van de Grift at l.vandegrift@let.ru.nl ]

Kontakt

Liesbeth van de Grift

PO Bos 9103, 6500 HD Nijmegen (NL)

+31-24-3615753

l.vandegrift@let.ru.nl


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