30/11/2024
« Dear all,
The journal Mutations en Méditerranée invites young researchers to send in their article proposals for its second issue, on the theme of Vulnerabilities and agency in the Mediterranean.
Venice underwater, 28 octobre 2012 © Roberto Trombetta
Vulnerabilities and agency in the Mediterranean
In a context of growing social, economic, political and environmental uncertainties, it is important to take stock of what we know about their effects in terms of vulnerability. The Mediterranean, as a historical, geographical, socio-political and cultural space - both shared and conflicted (Dupuy, 1994; Bedjaoui, 1994) - is an open-air laboratory for analysis of this issue. Vulnerabilities are studied from three angles: territorial and heritage; political, legal and religious; and social and bodily.
While etymologically vulnerability invites us to consider the undermining of both natural and social environments, it would be simplistic to interpret the Mediterranean region solely in terms of risks and weaknesses. For example, a long tradition of sociology has focused on the notions of dignity, contempt, lack of recognition and suffering in the study of democratic resistance and protest by people suffering from disenfranchisement (Thompson 1963, Scott 1985, 1990, Paugam 1991, Honneth 1992). Every day, there are forms of resistance acted by the ‘dominated’, a ‘power of the weak’ studied by the authors of Subaltern Studies (Chatterjee 2004, Chakrabarty 2000, Spivak 1988). For this issue of the journal Mutations en Méditerranée, contributors are invited to question vulnerabilities in terms of the capacity of individuals to be affected and to affect in return (Gilson, 2014). This issue proposes an interdisciplinary approach to vulnerability, in order to address the challenges and changes in the Mediterranean region and the specific risk factors associated with it, using both social and life science approaches. Also, without omitting the capacity of populations to act, including those exposed the most to risks, the contributors are invited to include in their reflections the notion of agency (Garrau, 2021). Agency involves questioning the different power relations (environmental, socio-political) and their effects on the individual and his or her place in the world, as well as the different possibilities for reinvestment and reaction. This approach proposes to renew the notion of vulnerability through the prism of resistance, critique (theoretical, political, social) and autonomy.
This call for papers invites contributors to examine vulnerability in the Mediterranean along three axis:
Territorial and heritage vulnerabilities
Political, legal and religious vulnerabilities
Social and physical vulnerabilities
These dimensions should demonstrate both the unification and the fragmentation of Mediterranean areas. This call for contributions is open to proposals from PhD students from all disciplines; multidisciplinary contributions will be particularly welcome.
Proposals for contributions should be between 2500 and 5000 characters (including spaces, excluding bibliography). They must contain a title, keywords and the bibliography used. Consult
editorial norms.
Please confirm your status and affiliation in the email.
Deadline for the submission of article proposals: Monday 20 January 2025, 5pm
Mutations en Méditerranée (MeM) is a multidisciplinary scientific journal that focuses on the transformations taking place in the Mediterranean region. Managed by PhD students (doctoral schools 67, 354 and 355) and supported by the MESOPOLHIS laboratory (Aix-Marseille University and Sciences po Aix), it offers a publication space for young researchers through an annual thematic issue, in open access, and welcomes articles in English and French.