Futures of Natures [workshop in Joburg]

The yearly workshop on "Theory and Criticism" in Johannesburg has this year the theme "Futures of Natures" (Johannesburg, 1-10 July). The workshop has been ongoing since 2009 with great and growing number of speakers, including Michael Hardt, Mike Davis, AbdouMaliq Simone, Achille Mbembe and many more. They write for this years workshop:

"The 2012 Session,Futures of Nature, is part of a drive within the humanities to reframe the disciplines and critical theory in light of the environmental emergency that is said to endanger most species on the planet, including our own. We will reflect on some of the major challenges relating to the contemporary conditions and the long-term sustainability of life on Earth. Ours is an age characterized by the indelible imprint of human activity on the Earth’s climate, its geology and its conditions – a process which may lead to the planet’s becoming inhospitable to human life. It is also an era that blurs the distinction between human history and culture and the Earth’s natural history and material composition."

It is a great pity I cannot participate as I am instead organizing with Mary Lawhon, John Silver and Suraya Fazel-Ellahi an exciting special session on "Urban Political Ecology through African Cities" at the RGS conference in Edinburgh, 3-5 July.