CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative

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SCORAI LogoClark University in Worchseter, MA, USA; June 12-14, 2013; Submission Deadline: October 1, 2012

The Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative (SCORAI) is organizing an international conference to be held on June 12-14, 2013, at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. SCORAI is the North American knowledge network of professionals working to address challenges at the interface of material consumption, human fulfillment, lifestyle satisfaction, and technological change. Scholars working in the field of sustainable consumption are seeking to better understand the connections between material consumption and societal well-being and to chart transition pathways toward a more sustainable future. The aim is to formulate options for post-consumerist lifestyles, social institutions, and economic systems in wealthy countries of the global North. The 2013 Conference at Clark University will follow three previous SCORAI workshops held in North America at Clark (2009), Princeton (2011), and Vancouver (2012) and a Trans-Atlantic workshop Austria (2012).

The conference theme will be “The Future of Consumerism and Well-being in a World of Ecological Constraints.” The conference seeks:

  1. To improve our understanding of the complex driving forces underlying prevalent consumerist lifestyles in the wealthy parts of the globe;
  2. To generate insights about fostering a necessary transition towardalternative ways of pursuing individual and societal well-being in a technological society cognizant of ecological limits;
  3. To build on recent developments to establish a vibrant global research community focused on sustainable consumption.

Proposals are invited for conference sessions, individual papers, and posters based on theoretical and applied research. Especially welcome are interdisciplinary contributions that address consumerism from different perspectives; alternative visions and framings of post-consumerism; and emergent contours of post-consumerist society. Submission opens for session proposals and paper/poster abstracts on August 15th, 2012. The deadline for these submissions is October 1, 2012.

Prospective participants are encouraged to visit SCORAI’s official website for more complete information, including details on the submission of session proposals and paper and poster abstracts. The conference homepage includes further information on target dates, registration and fees, and accommodations.