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All Presenters Must Register by Friday, October 31, 2o13

Click here to download the CASA 2013 Tentative Schedule:  (The Tentative Schedule will be posted shortly.)

CASA 2013 SUBMISSIONS »

The 2013 Conference on Anthropology & Sustainability in Asia invites scholarly interactions among academics, researchers, doctoral students, and representatives from industry, as well as think tanks, non-profit / non-governmental organization professionals to submit proposals.

As the fields of anthropology and sustainability cross over into multiple areas and disciplines, authors are welcome to submit from a range of topics, perspectives, and disciplines. The range of research submissions may include conceptual, empirical, experimental, and case studies.

Under the theme of Anthropological Perspectives on Holistic Sustainability, CASA 2013 welcomes submissions from the following seven areas:

Cultural Sustainability
Social Sustainability
Linguistic Sustainability
Political Sustainability
Economic Sustainability
Biological Sustainability
Archaeology and Sustainability

Sustainability is a term of recent origin with widespread contemporary saliency.  In its popular use, sustainability tends to focus mostly on issues of natural environment.  The lens of environmental sustainability raises questions such as:

• Can the natural world recover from damage caused by human activity at a rate faster than the damage is done?
• Is the use of natural resources at a rate that is compatible with their regeneration?
• What changes in human practice can lead to long-term availability of necessary natural resources?

Anthropological Perspectives on Holistic Sustainability will explore these and related questions, but in a way that considers sustainability beyond its ecological dimensions.  Trends toward broader consideration of sustainability are in place.  The World Bank and other governmental and non-governmental organizations have incorporated the concept of social sustainability into their approaches to development.  The notion of a “triple bottom line” that considers profit, people and planet has entered the private sector discourse on sustainability.  This conference considers the contributions that anthropology can make to expanding the horizons of sustainability.

As is the case with any field of study, application of anthropology brings certain approaches and worldviews to bear on the issue of sustainability.  As sustainability finds its way into business practices, development plans, and government policy, the holistic approach is the most important contribution that anthropology has to offer.  Holism applied to sustainability demands that we ask not only about environmental impacts but also social, cultural, economic, and political ones.  Additionally, holism demands that we examine how components of socio-cultural eco-systems relate to one another systematically. CASA aims to explore holistic sustainability in the following seven areas:

Cultural Sustainability

• How do varied cultural perspectives have in how we conceptualize the relationship between human beings and the physical world undermine or promote sustainability?
• How can the on-going revitalization of indigenous culture lead to holistic sustainability?  What are the challenges of employing traditional knowledge to achieve sustainability?
• How can diverse religious perspectives invest sustainability with enduring significance that motivates long-term commitment?
• Are changes proposed to make sustainable use of natural resources compatible with the worldview of the people expected to change their behavior?  Are there ways that such changes can be accommodated by the cultural logic of the people?

 
Social Sustainability

• In a globe marked by increasing transnational flows of people, how can kin and community structures that support human well-being be maintained?
• Are changes proposed to make sustainable use of natural resources compatible with the family and community life of people expected to change their behavior?  Are there ways that such changes can be accommodated within the flexibility of kin and community structures?

Linguistic Sustainability

• What is the role of language in maintaining affective ties with local landscapes?
• How do language revitalization movements relate to holistic sustainability?
• What relationships exist between endangered languages and unsustainable use of natural resources? unsustainable social structures?
• Language that encodes unique relationships with the land is an important part of many ethnographically-described food production systems. How does language change reflect changes in subsistence strategies?  
• How is language stability related to sustainable uses of natural resources? sustainable social structure?

Political Sustainability

• What do alternative approaches such as food sovereignty have to offer in terms of sustainability?  Do people who have control over their own food production use natural resources in a sustainable way?
• What challenges does entrenched and growing wealth inequality present to sustainability?
• What challenges does persistent gender inequality present to sustainability?
• What sorts of inertia and resistance to movement toward sustainability are found in existing political structures and interests?
• What role does robustly inclusive democracy have in sustainability?
• What challenges to sustainability are presented by weak and failed states?
• What is the role of civil society or the third sector in sustainability?

Economic Sustainability

• What role does addressing negative market externalities have in sustainability?  If the prices of goods and services include (or internalize) all of their social and environmental costs, will the market solve sustainability challenges?
• What sort of economic incentives promote the continuance of unsustainable practices?  How can government and other actors promote material incentives that foster sustainable practices?
• What is the potential for organic food production to generate sustainable livelihoods?
• How well do we understand (and communicate) the costs of continuing unsustainable practices?  What tradeoffs are presented in shifts toward sustainability?
• What roles do risk avoidance and uncertainty have in unsustainable practices?  What are the consequences of asking economically vulnerable people to take on greater risk in the name of sustainability? 

Biological Sustainability

• What can physical/biological anthropology reveal about sustainable relationships between human populations and their respective environments across time and space?
• What constitutes sustainable health care?  How can it be achieved?  What role do indigenous healing methods have in delivering affordable health care to people in need? 
• What is the relationship between food security and environmental sustainability?  What conditions lead to sustainable food security? What role does organic food production have in achieving sustainable food security?
• What is the relationship among food production, environmental impact, human nutrition, and taste?  What conditions are necessary in order to produce a nutritionally-balanced diet that is palatable, accessible, and environmentally sound?
• How can the special nutritional needs of developing children be met through environmentally, socially, and culturally sustainable ways?

Archaeology and Sustainability

• What can archaeological examinations of the human past reveal about sustainability? 
• What combinations of political, cultural, social, economic, environmental circumstances generate long-term human presence on the landscape?  What combinations lead to societal collapse?

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. Full papers are optional and not factored for presentation acceptance.  Full paper deadline is January 31, 2013.
2. If your abstract is accepted, you must pay the registration fee no later than November 30, 2013 to be included in the Conference presentation schedule.
3. Abstracts must be a maximum of 250 words and include the following items, (1) Full name, academic rank or job title, contact information, name of institution; (2) Full name, academic rank or job title, name of institution of co-authors; (3) Title of abstract/research paper; (4) a university or institution registered E-mail address.
4. Abstracts must focus on scientific results or their application. The Review Committee may decline to consider abstracts with other focus.
5. Submitted proposals or papers may be placed in a different, more appropriate session than the one to which it was submitted.  Final decisions regarding placement of individual papers or proposals and sessions rests with the Review Committee.
6. Oral presentations are decided by the Review Committee and cannot be requested, although you may request a poster presentation.
7. Submission of an abstract or acceptance of an abstract does not register you for the Conference. Separate registration fees apply.
8. Co-authors also wishing to present must register separately for the Conference; in other words, a single registration does not permit all authors to present.
9. Submission of an abstract carries with it the obligation to give a presentation in the designated manner assigned by the Review Committee. It also grants the Conference permission to publish the abstract.
10. To make either an oral or a poster presentation, the presenter must be listed on an abstract at the time of electronic publication.  An individual cannot present another person’s paper, if their name is not listed as an author on the abstract.
11. ALL oral and poster presenters must pay the registration fee to be given a presentation slot and included in the proceedings. The maximum number of presentations allowed is two. There is no extra cost for two presentations.
12. The Review Committee will not consider research abstracts or research papers that are derived from plagiarized or copyrighted research.
13. If the submitted research abstract or research paper has been previously published in another journal, it will not be accepted.

ORAL PRESENTATION FORMAT

1. Oral presenters will be allotted 20 minutes to present. If two or more co-authors will present together, the allotted time is still only 20 minutes. The session chair will field questions after all panel members have presented.
2. The session chair is expected to handle three tasks, (1) briefly introduce each panelist; (2) serve as a time moderator to ensure equal presentation times; and (3) to field questions and stimulate discussion after the final presentation.
3. Seating arrangement for oral presentations will be theater style with a table at the front.
4. Each room will be equipped with a projector and a screen. If you are using an Apple computer, please be sure to bring the proper adapter for connecting to the projector.
5. Computers will not be provided for presenters. We kindly ask that you bring your own computer.
6. The session rooms are not equipped with Internet; however, other areas of the Conference main room and the hotel should have Internet access.

POSTER PRESENTATION FORMAT

1. Poster presenters will be allotted 20 minutes to present. If two or more co-authors will present together, the allotted time is still only 20 minutes. The session chair will field questions after all panel members have presented.
2. Poster sessions will be held in the registration area. Poster boards mounted on stands will be provided.
3. Posters may be set up 15 minutes before the start of the session. Presentations should be taken down within 15 minutes after the session ends. Display materials not removed following the conclusion of the session will be discarded.
4. Poster materials should include the title of the presentation and the list of authors. Bring all illustrations needed — figures, tables, color photographs, charts.
5. Common dimensions for posters are 42 x 42 inches (107cm x 107cm); 42 x 48 inches (107cm x 122cm); or 42 x 52 inches (107cm x 132cm).
6. Poster material should be well labeled and easy to read from a distance of 6 feet (1.8 meters). Lettering should be bold. If you will be posting typed material, use a large font size (20 to 24 pt) on white, pale yellow or cream-colored non-glossy paper. Use 1-inch margins. Avoid use of fancy fonts. Use upper and lowercase letters. “Times New Roman” is considered standard and is easiest to read.
7. No audiovisual equipment is permitted for poster presentations.

GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE PROCEEDINGS

Oral presenters are not required to submit a full paper to be included in the Conference Proceedings.

All submissions to the Conference will undergo a blind review process. The Proceedings will be published in electronic format only.

PROCEEDINGS GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

Authors wishing to have their full paper included in the Conference Proceedings must submit their paper electronically to the Submissions Coordinator by January 31, 2013. Unfortunately, hard copy submissions cannot be accepted.

On the basis of quality and as deemed by the reviewers, authors of selected papers will be published in an edited book to be printed following the Conference on Anthropology & Sustainability in Asia 2013.

CASA 2013 FULL PAPER GUIDELINES

In an effort to assist the author in preparing and formatting the paper, these instructions present the specifications for formatting the elements of the paper. All papers must follow these guidelines.

The Full Paper will not exceed 1500 words, and shall be submitted in PDF with all artwork, tables, and graphs correctly inserted into the final paper. Click below to access the Template: