5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

The Reparation Ecologies approach (REA) is both an ongoing research project grounded in local social engagement and a political and ethical proposal aimed at overcoming the fatalistic predictions of a collapsing climate and a dying world. At its core, REA embodies a practice of resistance and the pursuit of justice, articulated along three main paths: i) the reframing of nature, ii) the struggle for compensation and recognition, and iii) the transformation of biocultural engagements and relationships between human and non-human worlds. From a political perspective, REA considers sustainability as a complex anthropological response and an institutional architecture established to counter the destructive potential of our contemporary high-carbon, technology-intensive capitalist form, which threatens ecosystems and endangers both animate and inanimate life forms. Based on case studies, primarily from Latin America with emerging research from Africa and Asia, REA engages with the ethical question of redefining the nature-human-justice relationship. The plural 'ecologies' reflects the contemporary understanding of ecology as an inclusive domain, encompassing human, non-human, and even artificial sources of meaning production about the future of life on Earth.

This session invites papers that explore:

• The ethical and political dimensions of reparation ecologies.
• Case studies on the implementation and impact of REA in different regions.
• Interdisciplinary approaches to redefining nature and sustainability.
• The impact of high-carbon technologies on ecosystems and communities.
• Practices and policies for fostering sustainable futures and redefined biocultural relationships.
• Comparative analyses of ecological reparation strategies across various geographies.