ACSUS 2014 - The Asian Conference on the Social Sciences and Sustainability

Sustainability is a term of recent origin with widespread contemporary saliency. In its popular use, sustainability tends to focus mostly on issues of natural environment. The lens of environmental sustainability raises questions such as: Can the natural world recover from damage caused by human activity at a rate faster than the damage is done? Is the use of natural resources at a rate that is compatible with their regeneration? What changes in human practice can lead to long-term availability of necessary natural resources?
The Asian Conference on the Social Sciences and Sustainability will explore these and related questions, but in a way that considers sustainability beyond its ecological dimensions. Trends toward broader consideration of sustainability are in place. The World Bank and other governmental and non-governmental organizations have incorporated the concept of social sustainability into their approaches to development. The notion of a triple bottom line? that considers profit, people and planet has entered the private sector discourse on sustainability. This conference considers the contributions that social sciences can make to expanding the horizons of sustainability.
As is the case with any field of study, application of the social sciences brings certain approaches and worldviews to bear on the issue of sustainability. As sustainability finds its way into business practices, development plans, and government policy, the holistic approach is the most important contribution that the social sciences have to offer. Holism applied to sustainability demands that we ask not only about environmental impacts but also social, cultural, economic, and political ones. Additionally, holism demands that we examine how components of socio-cultural eco-systems relate to one another systematically.
Full papers are welcome, but not required. Registered participants with an accepted abstract and/or refereed full paper will be published in the Proceedings (ISSN 2188-6849). Oral, poster and virtual presenters shall be included in the Proceedings.
With the theme of Perspectives on Holistic Sustainability, the conference will promote a critical understanding of the innovative and organic approaches from the Social Sciences towards sustainability. We invite proposals of 250 words by September 8, 2014 submitted through our online system that consider the following themes:
Social Sciences Tracks:
Anthropology
Area Studies
Business Studies
Communication Studies
Development Studies
Demography
Education
Environmental Studies
Geography
Gender Studies
History
Industrial Relations
Information Science
International Relations
Law and Criminology
Library Science
Media and Journalism
Political Science
Psychology & Behavioral Studies
Public Policy
Public Health
Social Welfare
Social Work
Sociology
Special Topics in Sustainability:
Health (Biology) Sustainability
Cultural Sustainability
Economic Sustainability
Linguistic Sustainability
Political Sustainability
Social Sustainability