[Commlist] Call for Chapter Proposals for Edited Book: Screening the Crisis: U.S. Cinema and Social Change in the 21st Century

Call for Chapter Proposals for Edited Book:
Screening the Crisis: U.S. Cinema and Social Change in the 21st Century

Please find below the call for chapters for an edited book on the 
interplay between U.S. cinema and the contemporary economic, political, 
and social crisis.

We are members of the government-funded research project “Film and 
Crisis: Social Change and Representation in the Cinema of the New 
Century,” based at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. As film scholars, 
we have carried out numerous projects and academic activities over the 
past few decades and at the moment we are planning a book that examines 
the interplay between U.S. cinema and the different ways the 
contemporary crisis is being constructed, experienced and navigated in 
different contexts by different groups. At this stage, we are looking to 
gather proposals that we will collate and put together as a collection 
with a major U.S. or British publisher in the course of 2021.

The deadline for proposals is 30 April 2020.

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	Call for Chapter Proposals for Edited Book	

Screening the Crisis: U.S. Cinema and Social Change in the 21st Century


This project aims to develop innovative insights into the interplay 
between U.S. cinema and the contemporary, multifaceted crisis. In 
particular, the aim of this publication is to explore how cinema engages 
with the various changes that are transforming U.S. society as a 
consequence of the crisis, how cinema pushes ideas in particular 
directions and how cinema provides us with a different, more complex 
understanding of the challenges before us. The financial meltdown of 
2008 exposed the contradictions of the political settlement that had 
emerged during the previous decades, but in a sense, it was just a 
symptom of a cancer that had already spread to other areas of the 
sociopolitical body. On that occasion the diagnosis pointed toward the 
dominant neoliberal ideology as the root cause of the disease. One of 
the most serious consequences of this ongoing malady is that it has 
profoundly transformed the way we make sense of society. Anyone would 
think that the collapse of the financial system would bring about a 
critical examination of the neoliberal dogmas that have led to this 
situation. However, it seems that these ideological forces not only 
continue unabated but are often perceived as the only viable solution. 
Or, to put it another way, the economic crisis has somehow reshaped the 
relationships between political and civil society, producing a new 
consensus respecting the authority of the market in serving the 
interests of the people. It is feasible that neoliberalism is not a 
hegemonic or unquestioned project, but during the last decade and as a 
result of the 2008 crash, there is no doubt market values have permeated 
every aspect of society, making some alternatives reasonable and 
acceptable while other options appear unrealistic and naïve.
In the past few months, a discussion has started in economic and 
political circles about whether the current sluggish economic growth 
will morph into another full-blown global recession (a prospect 
trumpeted by a compliant media that is never held accountable). Such a 
gloomy economic forecast needs to be evaluated with caution and situated 
within a very concrete field of forces. However, we cannot ignore that 
even the prospect of another recession might exacerbate a reactionary 
backlash and take the country further down the neoliberal road, 
fomenting legislation that continues to subvert the democratic process, 
dismantle the welfare state, privatize public services, shift taxes on 
to the less well-off, and remove government regulations on big business, 
with all the consequences that these measures entail respecting social 
relations, labor rights and climate change.
How we make sense of these events, how we think about the challenges 
faced by society, and how we envisage other possibilities cannot be 
separated from the ways crises are represented. While other areas of 
knowledge have already produced analyses of today’s crisis, film studies 
has yet to theorize approaches to it as an economic and, more 
importantly, as a political, social, and cultural phenomenon. We work on 
the assumption that the current sociopolitical situation calls on film 
scholars to reconsider the nature of the relationship between cinema and 
culture and to think more carefully about what issues need pursuing and 
how to proceed. In line with these considerations, this project is, on 
the one hand, an attempt to elucidate the impact of the crisis on film 
narrative and film aesthetics. On the other hand, it is concerned with 
how these changes in modes of representation provide audiences with 
different ways to think about the crisis and thus help spectators 
navigate the various, interconnected social, political, economic and 
ideological forces and contradictions that characterize the present 
conjuncture. Along these lines, we invite contributions that explore the 
engagement of cinema with the various manifestations of the contemporary 
moment of crisis. Topics may include but are not limited to the 
following (in particular, we encourage approaches that address the 
interconnectedness of some of these issues):

-Film narrative and aesthetics; film theory; film genre; performance; stars
-Film and society: class; race; immigration; the refugee crisis; 
environmental issues; gender identity; militarism; surveillance
-Film and economics: neoliberalism; privatization and deregulation; 
austerity; globalization; labor; imperialism
-Film and politics: democracy; social welfare; inequality; poverty; 
plutocracy; fascism
-Film and the nation: nationalisms; national sovereignty; borders; white 
supremacy
-Film and culture: feelings and emotions; nostalgia; hope; media and 
information technologies; thought leaders and (anti)intellectualism
-Film and personal relationships: intimacy; family; queer 
representation; love; sexuality

Please email your proposal to (screeningthecrisis /at/ gmail.com) by April 30, 
2020. Full chapters are due by November 30, 2020. The volume will be 
published by a major British or US publisher in the course of 2021.

All submissions must include an abstract of approximately 300-500 words 
with selected bibliography, keywords (up to five), and a short 
biographical note stating the author’s current research interests and 
recent publications.	

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