CfP: Reshaping Nature: Atomic Agriculture in the Cold War Era

 The University of Genoa-Department of Antiquities, Philosophy, History (DAFIST), and the Unit 2 of the Research group Prin 2017-Inventing the Global Environment (https://www.inveglement.eu/), are pleased to announce the International Conference Reshaping Nature: Atomic Agriculture in the Cold War Era, which will be held on 8-9 September 2022 in Genoa, Italy.

Historians  of science have widely investigated the impact of the atomic bomb on  the development of the life sciences after World War 2, thoroughly  documenting how the dissemination of scientific resources associated  with nuclear energy shaped biological knowledge, laboratory  instrumentation, and medical practices.

In  this burgeoning historiographic context, the application of nuclear  science in agriculture has hitherto attracted relatively little  scholarly attention. In particular, despite the pioneering contributions  of Helen Anne Curry, Jacob Darwin Hamblin and Karin Zachmann, the  development of mutation breeding in other national contexts different  from the United States and, more in general, the global spread of atomic  agriculture remains uncharted territory.

The  aim of this workshop is to partially bridge this gap, by providing a  broader perspective, both geographically and analytically. First of all,  we intend to examine the transnational dimension of atomic agriculture,  drawing attention to little known, yet fundamental, national case  studies (in Europe, Asia, Latin America) but also delving into the  transnational circulation of research methods, technological systems,  irradiated organisms. Secondly, we aim to explore the complex  interaction between the establishment of atomic agriculture as a  transnational scientific field, on the one hand, and its Cold War  geopolitical dimension, on the other, involving conflicting actions and  relationships between different United Nation organisations, such as the  FAO and the IAEA. Finally, we are also interested in proposals which  analyse the visual and rhetorical strategies of atomic agriculture, its  techno-pastoral imaginary, its particular approach to the aesthetics of  the atomic sublime.

Submissions should preferably, but not exclusively, deal with:

Mutation breeding and food irradiation: national and international programmes

Seeds and soil irradiation

The insect sterile technique

Circulation and networks of scientific knowledge in the field of atomic agriculture

Atomic agriculture and the Green Revolution: narratives and tensions

Visual and material cultures of atomic agriculture

Please send a paper proposal of no more than 300 words, along with a 1-page CV, to Francesco Cassata (francesco.cassata@unige.it) by May 15, 2022. Final notification will be given by June 5, 2022. Please  also express whether you would present in person or online. The  conference is intended in person, but hybrid sessions are planned to  accommodate both preferences.

There  are limited funds available to cover travel and accommodation costs up  to a certain amount for scholars who have not access to institutional  funding.

The  conference language will be English. A selection of the papers will be  published in either an edited volume or a special journal issue.

The conference is part of the National Research Project (PRIN 2017) Inventing the Global Environment: Science, Politics, Advocacy and the Environment-Development Nexus in the Cold War and Beyond.