Taxing carbon-dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions has been proposed for decades as an effective strategy to reorient supply and demand economics toward environmental sustainability. Increasing carbon efficiency is one of the goals of such an approach, which meshes well with ecological modernization theses. Yet, carbon taxation also fits into larger social and environmental justice frameworks, which aim to reconfigure power relations and address the disproportionate externalities to which marginalized groups are routinely exposed. Because of their malleability, carbon taxes are lauded as an essential means for responding to the climate crisis by a diverse array of actors and organizations, from the progressive Citizens Climate Lobby to the carbon giant ExxonMobil. As this suggests, the effectiveness of carbon taxation has everything to do with how it is formulated and implemented.
Given the popularity of carbon taxation, as well as the need to gain clarity regarding what’s entailed by the various forms it may take, we are soliciting abstract-length proposals from scholars in political science, philosophy, law, economics, and related fields, to participate in a fully virtual, international conference hosted by the Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity Initiative, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and the Instituto de Ciencia Política, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Although any proposal related to carbon taxation will be considered, we especially welcome papers that explore any of the following themes:
◼ What should governments do with the revenue from a carbon tax?
◼ Should consumers or producers be taxed for carbon emissions?
◼ Carbon taxes and carbon leakage: the problem of “off-shoring” emissions
◼ Democratic and populist movements for and against carbon taxation
◼ Using carbon taxes as “sin taxes” to shame and stigmatize climatically destructive industries
◼ Ending fossil fuel subsidies as a form of carbon taxation
◼ The legal-institutional mechanisms of an effective carbon tax
◼ Carbon taxes and geo-engineering
◼ What a carbon tax can’t do
While all are invited and encouraged to submit, we strongly welcome proposals from scholars who belong to historically underrepresented groups, particularly those from racial and ethnic minority communities, poor and working-class families, and the LGBTQI community.
Abstract submissions should be sent to both conference organizers, Yogi Hale Hendlin (hendlin{at}esphil.eur.nl) and Ross Mittiga (ross.mittiga{at}uc.cl), no later than September 30, 2020.
Call for Proposals
- More information
More information about the conference and a registration link can be found on the eventpage.