Business, Capital, and the Environment

Portland, OR

CALL FOR PROPOSALS IS NOW OPEN!

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Call for Proposals: Society for French Historical Studies

Annual Conference, April 1-4, 2027, Portland, Oregon
“Business, Capital, and the Environment in French and Francophone History”

Joseph Bohling, President of the Society for French Historical Studies, along with the Program and Local Arrangements Committees, warmly invites you to participate in the Society’s annual meeting next April in Portland, Oregon.

2027 Conference Focus
How have businesses, states, and social movements negotiated the tensions between economic growth and environmental change? How have environmental constraints shaped investment, development, and the management of natural resources? From resource extraction and industrialization to sustainability and climate politics, the relationship between enterprise and the environment has shaped some of the most consequential transformations of the modern world.

These questions take on new significance in an era of climate change, energy transitions, and debates over sustainable development. In recent years, environmental historians have increasingly examined the ecological consequences of economic development, while scholars of business history and the history of capitalism have explored how firms, investors, financial institutions, and states responded to environmental constraints, resource scarcity, regulation, and ecological critique. Yet these intersections remain relatively understudied in French and Francophone history.

This conference invites scholars to explore these questions across all periods of French and Francophone history, as well as comparative and transnational perspectives that place France and the Francophone world in broader global contexts. As always, our program committee welcomes proposals on any aspect of French history. We particularly encourage contributions examining how commercial enterprises, financial actors, state institutions, and social movements have shaped, and have been shaped by, engagement with the natural and built environments. We also invite expansive interpretations of business, capital, and environment, as categories that include labor and household economies; property, law, and social reproduction; empire, slavery, race, gender, and culture; as well as built, urban, domestic, colonial, and institutional environments.

Potential Topics

Natural resources and economic development
Energy and extractive industries
Finance, investment, and resource development
Empire, race, and environmental exploitation
Gender, labor, and environmental inequality
Infrastructures of power
Pollution, waste, and industrial risk
Knowledge, expertise, and environmental governance
Climate change, business, and environmental politics
Capitalism, economic modernization, and their critics
Consumerism and its environmental consequences
Tourism, leisure, and environmental change
Representations of nature, commerce, and consumption
Environmental activism, regulation, and business responses
Comparative and transnational perspectives
Arts and environmental activism
Enlightenment, natural philosophy, and environment
The family firm

We seek a wide range of presentations, in English or French, including traditional panels, roundtables, lightning sessions, pecha kucha, and creative session formats; additionally, we encourage manuscript workshops for books and edited volumes, translation workshops, reading seminars, and professional development sessions.

Submission Process
To submit a proposal, prepare a cover letter that indicates the session format, includes a brief description, and lists all participants with their relevant affiliation and contact information. Standard panels typically consist of three paper presenters, a chair, and an optional discussant. Each presenter should also include a single-page paper proposal and an equally short CV. Individual paper proposals are welcome.

Please submit proposals (preferably in Word or PDF) by December 1, 2026, to sfhs.portland.2027@gmail.com. Acceptance notifications are expected to be sent by the end of December.

Beyond the conference sessions, participants will have opportunities to experience the distinctive character of Portland and the Pacific Northwest. Known for its vibrant neighborhoods, commitment to environmental stewardship, and welcoming civic culture, Portland offers an ideal setting for conversations about business, capital, and the environment. Optional social activities will highlight the region’s renowned food and beverage traditions—including local cider, beer, and wine tastings—as well as opportunities to explore the area’s parks, rivers, forests, and nearby natural landscapes. Participants will also be encouraged to take advantage of Portland’s rich cultural offerings, from independent bookstores and museums to live music venues. We hope that these events will foster collegial exchange and provide space for new conversations and collaborations to emerge.

Participants must be members of the Society for French Historical Studies in good standing at the time of the conference and must pay conference fees. Membership dues should be paid directly to Duke University Press. The Hilton Portland Downtown will be the conference hotel; we will post and distribute information about rates as soon as they become available.

Note: the 2027 conference will be co-located with the annual meeting of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS). Look for more information on how to take advantage of this unique opportunity to participate in both meetings in the coming weeks.

Questions? Please contact SFHS President Joseph Bohling at sfhs.president.2027@gmail.com.

On behalf of the Program Committee:

Joseph Bohling, President
Charlotte Robertson, Co-chair
Jeff Horn, Co-chair
Oliver Cussen
Carla Hesse
Sarah Horowitz
Minayo Nasiali
Paolo Squatriti
Sarah Sussman
Madeline Woker