Scientific conference, June 26–27, 2025

Study and Research Group on Societal Transformations (GERTS) / ETHICS EA 7446
ESSLIL, Université catholique de Lille

CALL FOR PAPERS

Amid scientific research, media announcements, and political controversies, climate change continues to challenge our understanding of planetary boundaries and the ways we exploit them (Boutaud & Gondran 2020, Boehly 2022). It also highlights the urgent need to transform our societies in a sustainable manner (Catellani & Lits 2024, Latour 2015). However, the focus on climate-related issues often obscures deeper, pre-existing questions that reveal the paradoxes, divisions, and injustices embedded in the social and economic systems driving this crisis.

While climate change is frequently addressed through solutions or mitigation strategies targeting its effects, rather than revolutions aimed at its root causes (Sénéchal 2024), it fundamentally raises questions about our dualistic and Western-centric conceptions of nature and culture (Descola & Pignocchi 2022), humanity’s relationship with a planet seen as a resource (Wallenhorst 2023), the connections between cultural diversity and biodiversity (Senabre Hidalgo et al. 2022), the fabrication of value systems centered on profit and metrics (Graeber 2022; Lecointe 1997), and how we relate to the non-human living world, especially animals (Blanchard 2014, Goudet, Paveau & Ruchon 2020, Guillaume 2021).

This interdisciplinary conference, open to researchers in the humanities and social sciences as well as other fields, aims to mobilize diverse knowledge, methods, and research perspectives to examine the narratives of social and environmental transformations in light of these issues (Øyvind 2019). The discussions will address topics such as discourse (Hamon & Paissa 2023), communication (Libaert 2016, Moser 2010), and social drivers of action (Nisbet 2014), while maintaining a close focus on terms like "nature," "environment," "living beings," and "biodiversity." These concepts not only reflect representations of the non-human world upon which we depend (Kerbrat-Orecchioni 2021), but also shed light on human societies and their socio-economic and political models (Pascual Espuny & Catellani 2021).

This conference is part of the research-action project “Diagnostic analytique des récits emblématiques en circulation appliqué aux transformations écologiques et sociétales en contexte de crise climatique – (DAREC-TES3C)”, funded by ADEME and the Catholic University of Lille. The project aims to deliver a publicly available report by summer 2025 under ADEME’s auspices. The project’s narrative framework seeks to avoid "narrative washing" and adopts a threefold perspective (Wagener 2023):

1. A narrative operating through discursive and interdiscursive logics;
2. A material dimension reflected in specific, identifiable actions;
3. A social embodiment by collective and/or individual actors within specific territories.

The conference invites contributions under the following non-exhaustive, interrelated themes, encouraging dialogue across disciplines (e.g., linguistics, education, communication, history, arts, economics, management, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, literature, psychology, ethology, environmental sciences, etc.):

1. Narratives and Experiences of Social and Environmental Transformations:
   What are the characteristics of current narratives and experiences of social and environmental transformations? What insights and analyses can they offer? What do they reveal about social tensions, potential societal evolutions, and the political and economic reforms required?

2. Human Relationships with the Non-Human Living World:
   How is our relationship with the non-human living world illuminated and challenged by the climate crisis? What role do we assign to the non-living natural world? How do we perceive animals closely connected to humans (domestic, captive, or tamed) versus wild animals?

3. Narratives of Disasters and Crises:
   How do we narrate disasters, upheavals, and successive crises linked to extreme weather events, accidental pollution, biodiversity loss, and other collapse scenarios?

4. Forces Shaping and Promoting Narratives:
   What are the dynamics behind the production and promotion of these narratives? What can we learn from activist discourses and movements, their social logic, and their intersection with other struggles? What about conservative counter-narratives, from denial to climate and biodiversity negationism?

Submission Guidelines

Proposals must be submitted by Friday, February 28, 2025, via the Sciencesconf portal: [URL]. Submissions should include:

• A title;
• The author(s)’ name(s) and affiliation(s);
• A 15-line abstract;
• Keywords;
• A selective bibliography.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent starting Friday, April 4, 2025. Selected presentations will be allocated 20 minutes, followed by a Q&A session.

For further inquiries, please contact: albin.wagener@univ-catholille.fr

Organizing Committee

Albin WAGENER (Université catholique de Lille)

Alban ROBLEZ (Université catholique de Lille)

Scientific Committee

François ALLARD-HUVER (Université catholique de l’Ouest)

Christophe BLANCHARD (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord)

Nataly BOTERO (Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas)

Andrea CATELLANI (Université catholique de Louvain)

James COSTA (Université Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle)

Mike GADRAS (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord)

Anne GAGNEBIEN (Université Aix-Marseille)

Catherine GAUTHIER (Université Grenoble-Alpes)

Emilie KOHLMANN (Université Grenoble-Alpes)

Thierry LIBAERT (Comité Economique et Social Européen)

Erica LIPPERT (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

Alban ROBLEZ (Université catholique de Lille)

Yuliya SAMOFALOVA-VALENTIN (Université de Lille)

Aude VOLPILHAC (Université catholique de Lyon)

Nathanaël WALLENHORST (Université catholique de l’Ouest)

Albin WAGENER (Université Catholique de Lille)

Bibliographie

Alexander, R. (2010). Framing Discourse on the Environment: A Critical Discourse Approach. Routledge. 

Blanchard, C. (2014). Les maîtres expliqués à leurs chiens : Essai de sociologie canine. Zones.

Boehly, A. (2022). Dernières limites. Rue de l’Echiquier.

Boutaud, A. & Gondran, N. (2020). Les limites planétaires. La Découverte.

Catellani, A. & Lits, G. (2024). Transitions en tension : controverses et tensions autour des transitions écologiques. ISTE Editions.

Chakrabarty, D. (2023). Après le changement climatique, penser l’Histoire. Gallimard.

Clayton, S., Colléony, A., Conversy, P., Maclouf, E., Martin, L., Torres, A.-C., Truong, M.-X. & Prévot, A.-C. (2016). ‘Transformation of Experience: Toward a New Relationship with Nature’, Conservation Letters, 10(5), 645-651. 

Cooren, F. (2010). ‘Ventriloquie, performativité et communication : ou comment fait-on parler les choses’, Réseaux, 163(5), 33-54. 

Costa, J. (2020). ‘Through the Looking Glass. Politics of Language and Nature, and the Disqualification of Vernacular Forms of Knowledge’, Language, Culture & Society, 2(1), 126-134. 

D’Apollonia, L. S. (2022). Controverses climat & Anthropocène. Éditions Matériologiques.

Descola, P. (2005). Par-delà nature et culture. Gallimard. 

Descola, P. & Pignocchi, A. (2022). Ethnographie des mondes à venir. Seuil.

Enfield, N. J. & Levinson, S. C. (2006) (Ed.). Roots of Human Sociality: Culture, Cognition and Interaction. Berg.  

Fløttum, K. (2014). “Perspectives linguistiques et discursives sur la circulation du discours portant sur le changement climatique”, Cahiers de praxématique, 63.

Goudet, L., Paveau, M.-A. & Ruchon, C. (2020). “Discours animal. Langages, interactions, représentations”, Itinéraies, 2020-2.

Graeber, D. (2022). La fausse monnaie de nos rêves : Vers une théorie anthropologique de la valeur (M. Iserte, Trad.). Les liens qui libèrent.

Guillaume, A. (2021). “Zoolangages, zoolangues, zoodialectes”, Texto ! Textes et cultures, XXVI (2-4).

Hansen-Løve, L. (2022). Planète en ébullition. Ecosociété.

Hamon, Y. & Paissa, P. (2023). Discours environnementaux : convergences et divergences. Aracne.

Hopkins, R. (2014). Ils changent le monde. Seuil.

Joas, H. (2023). Comment naissent les valeurs (J.-M. Tétaz, Trad.). Calmann-Lévy.

Kerbrat-Orecchioni, C. (2021). Nous et les autres animaux. Lambert-Lucas.

Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire and dangerous things. What categories reveal about the mind. The University of Chicago Press. 

Latour, B. (2015). Face à Gaïa. La Découverte.

Lecointe, M. (1997). Les enjeux de l’évaluation. L’Harmattan.

Libaert, T. (2016). La communication environnementale. CNRS Editions.

Morin, E. (2005). Introduction à la pensée complexe. Seuil.

Moser, S. C. (2010). “Communicating climate change: history, challenges, process and future directions”, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 1(1), 31-53.

Nisbet, M. C. (2014). “Communicating climate change: Why frames matter for public engagement”, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 56(6), 32-36.

Øyvind, G. (2019). “Le dialogue des récits climatiques : une analyse narrative et polyphonique”, Cahiers de praxématique, 73.

Pascual Espuny C. & Catellani A. (2021). “Environnement, nature et communication à l’ère de l’anthropocène”, Revue française des sciences de l’information et de la communication, 21.

Pharo, P. (2004). Morale et sociologie : Le sens et les valeurs entre nature et culture (1. ed). Gallimard.

Roblez, A. (2024, février 7). C’est la crise : Un contexte de valeurs en tension dans l’évaluation [Conférence]. Cycle de conférences 2023-24 de l’ADMEE-Suisse, Lyon. https://hal.science/hal-04531800/

Saussez, F., Rioux, I., & Pilon, C. (2020). ‘Entre sémantique de l’action et sémantique d’intelligibilité des actions : Questions pour esquisser une posture de recherche impliquée’. In J. Thievenaz, J.-M. Barbier, & F. Saussez (Ed.), Comprendre-transformer, 43‑62. Peter Lang. 

Sénéchal, C. (2024). Pourquoi l’écologie perd toujours. Seuil.

Senabre Hidalgo E., Wagener A., Wandl-Vogt E. & Lew R. (2022). “Manifesto sprint on biocultural diversity: an experimental approach to knowledge co-creation, discourse design and collaborative writing”, Cogent Arts & Humanities, 9 (1).

Staszowski E. & Tassinari, V. (2020). Designing in Dark Times. An Arendtian Lexicon. Bloomsbury.

Stibbe, A. (2018). Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories we Live By. Routledge. 

Stibbe, A. (2023). Econarrative. Ethics, Ecology and the Search for New Narratives to Live By. Bloomsbury. 

Stoknes, P. E. (2015). What we think about when we try not to think about global warming. Chelsea Green Publishing.

Thunberg, G. (2022). Le grand livre du climat. Kero.

Vial, S. (2010). Court traité du design. PUF.

Wagener, A. (2019). Discours et système : théorie systémique du discours et analyse des représentations. Peter Lang. 

Wagener A., Hourcade R., Le Bart C. & Noûs C. (2021), “Discours climatosceptiques”, Mots. Les langages du politique, 127.

Wagener A. (2022). “Climat et environnement en France (2017-2022)”, étude financée par Komons et Open Society Foundations, https://sysdiscours.hypotheses.org/1038.

Wagener, A. (2023). Blablabla : en finir avec le bavardage climatique. Le Robert.

Wallenhorst, N. (2023). A critical theory for the anthropocene. Springer.

Wallenhorst, N., & Wulf, C. (2022). Humains : Un dictionnaire d’anthropologie prospective. Librairie philosophique J. Vrin.