(Un)Just Transitions? Deindustrialization and the Environment Transitions (In)Justes? La Désindustrialisation et l’Environment

(Un)just Transitions?: Deindustrialization and the Environment DePOT Conference

Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada June 18-20 2026

What can the study of deindustrialization add to our understanding of environmental history? And conversely, what can the study of environmental history contribute to deindustrialization studies? Answering these questions will be the focus of the 2026 Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Time (DePOT) annual conference, whose theme is “Deindustrialization and the Environment.”

Transitions are central in both environmental and deindustrialization studies. In environmental history, these transitions include the agricultural and industrial revolutions, and changes in energy sources from wood to fossil fuels, to renewables. These have been explored in the context of the legal system, labour, culture, economy and politics. Deindustrialization studies also centre on questions of transition. Studies might, for example, assess the impacts and transformations at work in the relationship between humans and nature in the decline, removal, or shift of industrial activity. The conference looks to explore these and other aspects of the intersection between deindustrialization and the environment.

Conference News 

The program is now available in English and French : Conférence 2026 programme

The call for papers is now available on our website! Read and download it in French or English here.