The Trumpeter
Call for Papers
“Radical Ecologies in the Anthropocene”
Deadline for submissions: 31 August 2016

Of late we have been hearing perhaps too much about the Anthropocene, the new geological epoch that is so inextricably bound up with human intervention that it can appropriately be framed entirely in terms of anthropos. Some celebrate a full embrace of the Anthropocene in a kind of neoliberal ecstasy that spurns conservation efforts and jettisons the idea of wilderness. Others among the more conservation-minded resign themselves to the Anthropocene in the strategic hope that this is the best way forward for whatever little gains might be made in such a context. Others still reject the new framing entirely and hold out for what they take to be more genuine or authentic ways of encountering what remains of nature.

Numerous essays on the Anthropocene have already been published for, against, and in between. On the one hand, ecomodernists have reframed the destruction of ecosystems as mere environmental alteration within a value-free context (cf. Love Your Monsters: Postenvironmentalism and the Anthropocene, Breakthrough Institute, 2011). On the other hand, deep ecologists have decried this as at best a normalization and at worst a reckless embrace of human selfishness and greed (cf. Keeping the Wild: Against the Domestication of the Earth, Island Press, 2014). However, it remains to be seen whether each side is addressing the other head on.

There is no need to repeat what has already been written on this subject. Rather, The Trumpeter is issuing a call for self-critical reflections and arguments about the future of radical ecologies (deep ecologies, dark ecologies, etc.) in the Anthropocene. This special issue hopes to promote productive dialogue about the futural possibilities of wilderness, ecology, and the human relation to nature, even while recognizing that these well-worn and perhaps loaded concepts may require fundamental revision and rethinking. Is wilderness a dead issue in the Anthropocene? If not, is wilderness something to which we return, or is it something at which we arrive in the future? Does wild nature lie behind us or ahead of us? Do we need to get there and, if so, how? In this spirit we are calling for neither apologetics nor moral stridency but new ideas. What would a truly radical ecology of the future look like?

Submission Guidelines:
Submissions should be submitted via The Trumpeter’s online journal system (at http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/) no later than 31 August 2016. Submissions may be scholarly articles, narratives, poetry, cartoons, or book reviews. Submission requirements can be found on our website (http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/index.php/trumpet/about/submissions). Please direct all correspondence to Trumpeter.Journal@gmail.com.

The editors welcome, at any time of the year, general submissions from the environmental humanities and social sciences. We especially encourage contributions from within deep ecology, eco-phenomenology, eco-psychology, ecofeminism, primitivism, and other forms of radical environmental theory. Founded in 1983 by Alan Drengson of the University of Victoria, The Trumpeter is one of the oldest environmental philosophy journals in the world. Its contributors have included such luminaries as Wes Jackson, Wendell Berry, Warwick Fox, Tom Birch, Gary Snyder, Bill Devall, Dave Foreman, Holmes Rolston, III, Michael Zimmerman, Arne Naess, George Sessions, Dolores LaChapelle, Monika Langer, David Abram, Mary Midgley, Valerius Geist, Neil Evernden, Robyn Eckersley, Freya Matthews, Tom Regan, David Suzuki, Michael Soulé, Jim Cheney, Marti Kheel, Catriona Sandilands, Anthony Weston, Max Oelschlaeger, and Vandana Shiva. Published by Athabasca University Press, The Trumpeter carries forth a proud tradition of philosophically exploring and analysing environmental concerns at every relevant level.