[spsp-members] Reminder: One week left CFP "The Human Diversity Dilemma" Special Issue

[Aline Potiron]

Dear Community,


We want to remind you that we are organising a Special Issue to be
published in the *South African Journal of Science
<https://www.sajs.co.za/>*

   1.

*Deadline for submission: August 18th*



Call for Abstracts | The Human Diversity
<https://perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-diversity/call-for-papers>

Human microbiomes are important ecosystems with central contribution to
various health and disease phenotypes. Understanding differences between
populations and their microbiomes can help to generate health
recommendations and interventions to prevent and cure wide-spread
non-communicable diseases like pulmonary, metabolic and neurocognitive
diseases. In short, the field aims to uncover the combination of lifestyle
factors and microbial communities that can promote human health.
Several research groups and research initiatives are working around the
world to achieve this goal. Like in genomics, in microbiome research it is
central to generate knowledge including minoritized groups and non-White
populations to overcome the data gap resulting from their
underrepresentation in databases. The inclusion of diversity in databases
is done using traditional race and ethnicity categories, but also including
lifestyles and subsistence strategies, as well as generalizations like
Western or non-Western to refer to populations, diets and microbiomes. By
studying different populations and their microbiomes it is expected to
identify the main factors affecting microbiome composition and their
connection to health states.
While the field focuses on global scientific goals like global health,
possibilities to do research and achieve those goals vary locally. There
are still important economic differences between countries in the Global
North (and their historical colonial wealth) and those of the Global South
(most of them ex-colonies) that translate into current scientific
capabilities. These differences are experienced today as economic and
infrastructural challenges and dependencies that directly or indirectly
have an effect on the epistemic questions asked and the quality of the
answers generated. They also introduce several social and ethical
challenges that result from power hierarchies within the research
community.
Building on current debates on history and philosophy of biology, values in
science, feminist and decolonial philosophy as well as history and
philosophy of race this special issue aims to understand the intricate
connection between epistemic, ethical and economic challenges faced by
human microbiome research practiced in the Global South, more specifically
in Africa. We aim to investigate the complex relation between the
microbiome, factors  affecting its composition, local histories of race,
and technological and economic dependencies to provide a more complex view
on the current field of microbiome research.


We invite medical and ecological microbiologists, philosophers, historians,
and social scientists to submit their contributions dealing with these and
similar issues from the perspective of integrated history and philosophy of
biology informed by debates about science and values, and decolonial and
feminist frameworks. Interdisciplinary contributions are especially
welcomed.  We invite submission of abstracts of max. 500 words (excluding
references).

The special issue is associated with a workshop in South Africa (Cape Town)
for which *we received support from the ishpssb <https://ishpssb.org/>* for
the travel of early-career academics.


[image: Poster-ishpssb.jpg]

All the best,

Aline Potiron, also on behalf of the organizers Abigail Nieves-Delgado,
Phila Msimang, and Elian Schure
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