Environmental Studies: Nature, Culture and Society in a Changing World

Environmental challenges have become among the most pressing concerns of contemporary societies, profoundly affecting ecological systems, cultural practices, political structures and human relationships with the natural world. Climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, resource depletion and increasing ecological inequalities have transformed the ways in which humanity understands its position within the environment. These developments call for critical reflection that extends beyond the natural sciences and considers the cultural, historical, philosophical, ethical and social dimensions of environmental change.

The proposed volume, Environmental Studies: Nature, Culture and Society in a Changing World, seeks to explore the complex relationships between humans, animals, nature and the environment from an interdisciplinary humanities perspective. It aims to bring together contributions investigating how environmental issues are represented, interpreted and negotiated across literature, language, art, philosophy, history, media and cultural practices. Particular attention will be given to the cultural imagination of nature, changing conceptions of human-nature relationships and the ethical and social implications of ecological transformation.

The volume particularly welcomes contributions from Ecocriticism, Environmental Humanities, Human-Animal Studies, Disability Studies, Ecofeminism and Posthumanism. These fields offer important perspectives on the interconnectedness of human and non-human life, the cultural construction of normality and otherness, ecological vulnerability and the unequal distribution of environmental risks. Human-Animal Studies provides opportunities to reconsider anthropocentric worldviews and investigate interspecies relationships, animal agency and representations of non-human life. Disability Studies, particularly through the perspectives of Environmental Disability Studies and Crip Ecologies, encourages critical examinations of the relationships between disability, environmental conditions, ecological vulnerability, accessibility and the politics of the body. Together, these approaches open up new possibilities for understanding environmental justice, interdependence and more-than-human forms of existence.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

- Environmental humanities and interdisciplinary approaches to ecological challenges
- Ecocriticism and environmental literary studies
- Climate change and cultural representations of environmental crises
- Climate fiction (Cli-Fi) and dystopian environmental narratives
- Nature, landscape and ecological imagination in literature and art
- Human-nature relationships and changing environmental perceptions
- Anthropocene, Capitalocene and alternative ecological concepts
- Posthumanism and more-than-human perspectives
- Human-Animal Studies and interspecies relationships
- Animal agency, animal subjectivity and non-human representation
- Animals, ecology and literature
- Biodiversity loss and the cultural representation of extinction
- Disability Studies and environmental humanities
- Environmental disability studies and Crip Ecologies
- Disability, ecological vulnerability and environmental injustice
- Accessibility, climate change and environmental inequality
- Embodiment, illness, vulnerability and environmental conditions
- Ecofeminism, gender and environmental politics
- Environmental justice, social inequality and ecological responsibility
- Environmental ethics and philosophical approaches to nature
- Sustainability, consumer culture and ecological consciousness
- Environmental memory, ecological trauma and intergenerational responsibility
- Urbanization, industrialization and the transformation of landscapes
- Environmental crises, migration and displacement
- Indigenous knowledge, local ecologies and alternative environmental perspectives
- Environmental communication, media and public awareness
- Utopian and dystopian visions of ecological futures

We welcome original contributions from researchers in literary studies, linguistics, cultural studies, philosophy, history, art history, media studies, sociology, Human-Animal Studies, Disability Studies, environmental humanities and other related disciplines. Theoretical, historical, comparative and interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged, as are contributions examining specific literary works, cultural contexts, artistic practices and environmental discourses.

Submission Guidelines

Abstract submission deadline: 4 January 2027

Abstract length: 300–500 words

Format: Times New Roman, 12 pt, 1.5 line spacing

Submission must include:

- Title of the proposed contribution
- Abstract (300–500 words)
- Author's name and institutional affiliation
- ORCID number

Publication: Open Access edited volume, planned for publication in 2027

Publisher: Maurer Press, Frankfurt am Main

Book Series: Interdisciplinary Studies on German Philology

Article Processing Charge (APC): EUR 115 per accepted contribution.

Submit to: habib.tekin@hotmail.com, habib.tekin@marmara.edu.tr, irem.atasoy@istanbul.edu.tr

Eligibility: Contributors are required to hold a PhD. Alternatively, submissions may be co-authored, provided that at least one co-author holds a PhD. In addition, PhD candidates are welcome to submit contributions within their own field of research, particularly if the proposed chapter is directly related to their doctoral project and falls within the thematic and conceptual parameters of this book
All submissions will be subject to an editorial evaluation process. Further information concerning full paper submission and publication guidelines will be communicated to authors whose abstracts have been accepted.

We invite contributions that critically examine the relationships between nature, culture, society, human and non-human life, and explore the environmental challenges and possibilities shaping our shared future.