Institute for Agroecology

Call for Chapter Abstracts: “Queer and Trans Formations in Agriculture”

Call for Chapter Abstracts: “Queer and Trans Formations in Agriculture”

 

Open-access book under contract with University of Vermont Institute for Agroecology’s Book Series “Just Transformations in Food Systems through Agroecology, Food Sovereignty, and the Right to Food,” published by CRC Press (Routledge)

 

Book editors:

Isaac Sohn Leslie, Extension Assistant Professor of Community Development, Institute for Agroecology Faculty Scholar, Food Systems Graduate Program Faculty, and Gund Institute for Environment Faculty Affiliate, University of Vermont, USA

 

Michaela Hoffelmeyer, Assistant Professor of Public Engagement in Agriculture and Community and Environmental Sociology, Agroecology Faculty Affiliate, and Women’s and Gender Studies Faculty Affiliate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

 

LaToya Eaves, Associate Professor of Geography and Sustainability, University of Tennessee at Knoxville

 

Series editors: 

Colin Anderson, Research Associate Professor of Agriculture, Landscape, and Environment, Institute for Agroecology Co-Director, Food Systems Graduate Program Faculty, and Gund Institute for Environment Faculty Affiliate, University of Vermont

 

Ernesto Méndez, Professor of Agroecology and Environmental Studies and Institute for Agroecology Co-Director, Food Systems Graduate Program Faculty, and Gund Institute for Environment Faculty Fellow, University of Vermont

 

Book description:

Despite the gendered challenges of rural and agricultural life, transgender and queer farming movements are blossoming around the globe. Questioning the gender and sexual norms that organize food production – like the “family farm” – trans and queer perspectives highlight how white heteropatriarchy exacerbates core agricultural challenges, such as land access, economic viability, farm transition, and labor. Even while experiencing interpersonal and systemic oppression in agriculture, trans and queer farm workers and owners are developing new ways of doing family, farming, and land-based activism. This novel collection of research critiques industrial agriculture while emphasizing collective liberation, offering groundbreaking insights and practices for living with abundance and community in a divisive world.

 

Attention to queer and trans farmers is blossoming in disparate academic circles and popular media. This will be the first synthesized collection of research meant to solidify the emerging field of gender and sexuality in agriculture. This work adds another substantive topical layer to transformative agroecology and food justice by highlighting perspectives from an oppressed group. In addition, this book offers these fields fresh lenses for reexamining taken-for-granted norms that are widespread in cisgender, heterosexual agriculture. These norms – and their alternatives – have serious implications for social, economic, and environmental sustainability in agriculture.

 

We seek chapters that utilize queer and trans perspectives in agriculture. We are interested in publishing a collection that highlights the wide diversity of trans and queer experiences, along the lines of (but not limited to):

  • Nation (this book has an international scope and audience)
  • Race and ethnicity
  • Migration
  • Rural-urban interface 
  • Religion and spirituality
  • Health and disability
  • Community development and organizing
  • Class and economic development
  • Law and policy
  • Family dynamics and alternatives to the “family farm”
  • More than human relations
  • Politics and social movements
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Education

 

Across chapters, we seek a balance of perspectives in terms of (but not limited to):

  • Farm workers and owners
  • Land tenure and relationships
  • Agroecological/alternative and industrial/conventional agriculture
  • Disciplinary approaches (social scientific, humanistic, artistic, and beyond)
  • Methodological approaches (qualitative, quantitative, participatory, and beyond)

 

Timeline:

  • June 15, 2026: Chapter abstracts due to book editors
  • June 30, 2026: Invitations to submit full chapters sent to authors
  • October 1, 2026: Chapter first drafts due to book editors
  • December 1, 2026: Reviews of first drafts sent to authors
  • February 1, 2027: Chapter second drafts due to book editors 
  • April 1, 2027: Reviews of chapter second drafts sent to authors
  • June 1, 2027: Chapter final drafts due to book editors
  • June 15, 2027: Book editors send full book to series editors and to peer reviewers
  • Late 2027: Final edits, responses to peer reviewers, and copy edits due to series editors
  • Early 2028: Book published

 

Submissions should include:

  • The chapter title
  • Author names, titles, and affiliations (as relevant)
  • 5-8 keywords
  • A 300–500-word abstract

 

Contact: 

Please direct all questions and submissions to Ike, Michaela, and LaToya at: QueerandTransFormationsinAgriculture@protonmail.com