Cfp POLLEN Conference 2026

Dear all,

We are excited to share the cfp for our panel on “De-romanticising Agroecology”, which I will be co-convening with Dr. Arianna Tozzi at the POLLEN 2026 Conference in Barcelona (29 June – 3 July 2026). You will find more details in the panel abstract below.

Paper proposals can be submitted directly via the POLLEN website: https://pollenpoliticalecology.network/pollen-2026/programme/

The deadline to propose a paper is 5 December 2025. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Arianna (arianna.tozzi@manchester.ac.uk) or Enid (enid.still@uni-passau.de).

We would be very grateful if you could circulate this call within your networks.

Best wishes,

Enid

De-romanticising Agroecology: Feminist critiques and the building of more viable agroecological futures

Convenors:

Arianna Tozzi (The University of Manchester)

Enid Still (Universität Passau)

Within political ecology, promoting agroecology is often regarded as a progressive agenda aligned with goals of environmental justice and social equity. Yet, when looking at concrete examples, questions remain about how agroecological transitions take shape on the ground (McKay et al. 2025). As input-intensive monocultures are replaced by diverse agro-ecosystems and new socio-ecological relations are forged, this panel asks:

How do agroecology transitions reconfigure productive and reproductive labour relations?

What novel intersecting lines of power emerge?

What role do affect and emotion play in the politics of agroecological worlds?

This panel aims to de-romanticise agroecology by engaging with the practical challenges, material politics, and affective relations that underpin alternative farming transitions. In line with feminist thinking that perceives critique as generative (Gibson-Graham, 2011), our intervention is not intended to debunk or dismantle agroecology, but rather to create space for deliberating its messy and ambiguous dynamics. In doing so, we explore how feminist solidarities can address emerging power relations and foster more viable agroecological futures.

We welcome contributions from a range of voices — including grassroots organisations, farmers, and academics — and from diverse geographies, engaging with the following themes:

Concrete examples of challenges encountered in everyday agroecological practices
Shifting relations of agrarian production and social reproduction within agroecology transitions
Gendered and intersectional implications of agroecology (labour, time, knowledges)
Affective and emotional political ecologies of changing agrarian landscapes
The role of material ecologies in shaping agroecology practices and politics
Methodologies for untangling the ambiguities of alternative farming transitions

References

Gibson-Graham, J.K. (2011). A feminist project of belonging for the Anthropocene. Gender, Place and Culture.

McKay, B.M. et al. (2025). Challenging Agroecology—Promise and Pitfalls for Agrarian Studies. Journal of Agrarian Change

Dr. Enid Still

LinkedIn | ResearchGate | WEGO | troubling waterscapes

Chair of Critical Development Studies

University of Passau

Dr.-Hans-Kapfinger-Str. 14 b
94032 Passau, Germany

Lehrstuhl für Kritische Entwicklungsforschung – Südostasien

Publications

The Ambiguous Ecologies of Agri-Alternatives: Exploring the Calculus of Social Reproduction in Rural India (2025)

More-Than-Human Co-becomings: The Interdependencies of Water, Embodied Subjectivities and Ethics (2023)