2018 SPRING Call for Papers: Decolonizing and Sustainability Education

There is growing interest in the topic of sustainability education. And while there is also rising attention in the ways in which sustainability education can support social justice, there is limited research into the ways in which sustainability education can become more just within its own frameworks. For this upcoming issue, we are inviting academics and communities to specifically explore what it means to decolonize sustainability education. For the purposes of this issue, we are defining decolonizing to mean “the meaningful and active resistance to the forces of colonialism that perpetuate the subjugation and/or exploitation of our minds, bodies, and lands,” (Waziyatawin, 2012).

We seek academic literature, personal essays, media, and other publishable works that address the topic of decolonizing and sustainability education and these and other questions:

  • What does it mean to decolonize sustainability education, perhaps especially in the context of land settlement?
  • In what ways has sustainability education been seen as a colonizing force that reinforces traditional white settler hegemony, and what has or can resistance to this model of sustainability education look like?
  • What is the role of justice in sustainability education particularly as it relates to our ever-deepening knowledge of what sustainability education is and what it can look like?
  • What are the roles of race, gender, and class in decolonizing sustainability education?
  • In what ways is the decolonization of sustainability education formally structured and in what ways is it occurring in non-formal learning environments?
  • How might a decolonizing understanding of sustainability education be useful to practitioners in the pursuit of equity (justice + fairness) for historically marginalized communities, particularly, Indigenous communities?
  • How are colonial forces within sustainability education linked to other injustices within academia and academic institutions and how might decolonizing sustainability education help us better understand the ways in which justice can flourish in these spaces?
  • How do we create and teach structures for decolonizing sustainability education?
  • How do we apply decolonizing sustainability education into action for social justice?
  • What discussions are currently occurring regarding sustainability education, in terms of decolonizing the field, and how does that discussion differ globally?

The editors of this special issue ask these questions in an effort to stimulate research, reflection, theory development, and discussion of praxis. We also seek relevant book and media reviews, editorial pieces, photo essays, multimedia pieces, case studies, and reflections on learning and practice.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: December 1, 2017

EXPECTED PUBLICATION: March 1, 2018

If you are interested in submitting work for this issue, please visit the JSE website (www.susted.org), and register as an author using the RATS (review and article tracking and submission) system (follow the link to RATS at the top of the JSE home page). RATS also includes links to the JSE submission guidelines (select “submit” from the RATS interface). For further information, please contact the issue editors. Please use “JSE Decolonizing Issue inquiry” in the subject line of your message.

The JSE also seeks peer reviewers. You are encouraged to use the RATS system to participate in our peer review process.

Tim Frandy, Ph.D., Guest Editor, twfrandy@wisc.edu

Clare Hintz, Ph.D., Editor, editor (at) susted.com

www.susted.org