The ExtrACTION Topical Interest Group is planning a special track on extraction research for the Society for Applied Anthropology meetings in Pittsburgh this year in March. Our initial Call for Proposals has generated an overwhelming response — more than 15 panels and 60 participants that go well beyond anthropology. Others in attendance will be coming from sociology, public health, investigative journalism, and environmental studies from all over the world doing work on gas, coal, metals, and other extraction industries.
Also in attendance will be a number of regional groups that do policy/advocacy/public health work including the Center for Coalfield Justice, Southwest Environmental Health Project, PennFuture, SkyTruth, FracTracker, Public Herald, FairShake, and others. These groups will be scheduled for the first day of the conference deemed “Pittsburgh Day” which will be free for them to present and free for the public to attend. This is but one of a number of PGH day tracks on that day – others will be focused on food justice, etc.
Many other extraction-related events are planned including a large reception SfAA has offered to host for the TIG one evening, a screening of the documentary film “Triple Divide”, a fracking/coalfield tour of southwest PA, and a roundtable on the intersection of activist and academic researcher.
(Please note, if you have not done so already, you must first create an account on the new SfAA website to register for the annual meeting and submit an abstract. Creating a website account is a simple, one-time process. Instructions are below):
* Go to http://www.sfaa.net and locate “Create Account” (it is in the upper, right-hand corner, under “log-in”).
* Click “create account” and the Site Registration page will pop up.
* Enter your information under “Site Registration” (right-hand side of the page).
* Below the “Site Registration” information type the letters and numbers shown in the image, then click “Register.”
* An email will now be sent to you confirming your email address. Open the email and click on the link to verify your email address (if you do not receive this email, please check your spam or junk mail folder).
