Conference May 21 – 23, 2025

Netherlands Institute at Athens (NIA)

 Perspectives on Rural Economies and Ecologies: Past, Present and Future

 This interdisciplinary conference will address topics related to our understanding of the rural as not outside, but rather entangled with, globalization from the outset. We encourage contributions that examine how, in specific rural communities, gender and class relations as well as notions of nationhood are refracted under conditions of industrialization and financialization. We are also interested in discussions of the environmental impact of these conditions. We welcome contributions on the history of rural places and their globalization as well as on more recent developments such as rural gentrification and (over)tourism. We welcome submissions grounded in empirical research on rural places, but also those addressing the rural as it is (re)imagined in media such as film, TV, literature (including graphic novels) and online platforms.

 Possible topics include but are not limited to: 

• Rural extractivisms (e.g. industrial, agricultural, financial)

• The rural as hinterland, periphery or sacrifice zone

• Rural labour, as classed, gendered and racialized

• Mono-industrial rural communities

• Rural revitalization and rural resilience

• Rural tourism, including dark tourism

• Postindustrial rural landscapes

• The rural and climate change

• Rural domesticities

• The more-than-human rural

• Globalized genres of rurality

The conference will be held at the Netherlands Institute Athens, Greece (https://nia.gr/en/), May 21-23, 2025.

Deadline for submissions is January 15, 2025. Please send all inquiries to Joyce Goggin at: j.goggin@uva.nl.