Spirit of 1848: A Call for Abstracts for APHA 2017. The APHA website for abstract submission opens on December 19, 2016 and the Spirit of 1848 abstracts are due on February 24, 2017. The focus is on: Planetary Emergencies: Global Climate Change & Toxic Politics- and our urgent fights for health equity & a sustainable future.
We recognize we are issuing this call for abstracts at a turbulent time in the US, one with implications for health equity & this planet’s health & that of its peoples (& other beings) world over. In light of the US election results, the fight for health equity and a sustainable future in which all can truly thrive is more urgent than ever.
And so, building on the 2017 American Public Health Association conference theme (“Climate Change: Public Health’s Global Challenge”), and recognizing that we have no idea how things will be in February 2017 (when abstracts are due) let alone November 2017 (when the APHA conference takes place), our Spirit of 1848 sessions will feature work that addresses:
1) Climate justice & environmental justice (in diverse nations and globally, whether or not tied specifically to the policies & actions of the Trump Administration), with an emphasis on links between the past, present, and increasingly unknowable future;
2) Additional health equity implications of Trump Administration social, economic, military, and health policies (above & beyond, and also in relation to, climate justice & environmental justice), and their impacts both within the US and globally, in conjunction with the civil society ripple effects (whether in the US, other countries, or globally) involving increased racism & racial harassment & anti-immigrant bashing & anti-Muslim discrimination, increased fear of sexual assault and its legitimation, rollbacks on sexual & reproductive rights (including but not limited to access to contraception and abortion, LGBTQ rights), etc.
3) Both the serious threats we face AND the active organizing people are doing in public health, in coalition with others, to counter these threats and to promote, instead, health equity & a sustainable future in which all can truly thrive.
We recognize that not every presentation will address all three themes specified above, but collectively each session will include presentations that cover the full range.
