[Commlist] CFP - Warscapes: Mediating Militarized Environments

Call for chapter proposals for edited volume


/Warscapes: Mediating Militarized Environments/

Edited by Cortland Rankin (Bowling Green State University) and Brady 
Fletcher (University of Rochester)


The portmanteau “warscape” that forms the title of this edited volume 
suggests a complex linkage between war, often thought of in purely 
anthropocentric terms, and the physical environment. On one hand, 
warfare is inescapably shaped by the environmental contexts in which it 
occurs. Geography, topography, biology, hydrology, and meteorology all 
have significant strategic and tactical implications as advantages to be 
exploited or as obstacles to be overcome. War also has the potential to 
radically transform any environment it touches, from densely populated 
cities to remote wildernesses. It can reduce buildings to rubble, 
disable critical infrastructural systems, annihilate sites of cultural 
memory, and remake, pollute, and poison the land, sea, and air. The 
environmental impact of war and militarization more broadly extends well 
beyond the combat zone too, from the extraction of natural resources and 
the disposal of toxic waste products to the strategic mobilization of 
agriculture and the construction of vast military bases. The 
militarization of environments can proceed even in the absence of active 
conflict, as is evidenced in recent decades by the reconfiguration of 
so-called high-value sites – from financial districts, government 
buildings, and sports stadiums to pipelines, cell towers, and grain 
storage facilities – as potential targets in need of securing. And, of 
course, the environmental after-effects of war and military 
operations/occupations linger long after the fighting stops, with 
profound ramifications for both recovery and remembrance. Indeed, 
ecocidal violence can be understood as ongoing, often invisible, and 
sometimes even far outside of what human beings might consider spaces of 
war or conflict.


As the term “warscape” implies, however, this book is not only about the 
intersection of war and the environment; it also centers a third crucial 
component – mediation. From film and television to social media and 
video games, audiovisual media can provide unique means for documenting, 
narrativizing, propagating, and critiquing militarized environments. At 
the same time, media technologies mobilized for the purposes of sensing, 
surveillance, targeting, etc. can also actively shape the outcomes of 
war. At the heart of this book is the convergence of war, environment, 
and media, each of which will be broadly defined. Although war will 
undoubtedly be a primary focus of the book, it will also acknowledge a 
wide range of military activities beyond active warfare, including less 
explicit forms of militarization as well as the ideology of militarism 
itself. “Environment” as a concept will also be left intentionally broad 
to include both built, social spaces as well as non-human ecological 
worlds. Lastly, the definition of “media” will remain open to account 
for the range of ways in which militarized environments can be mediated.


Avenues of inquiry may include, but are not limited to:

  *

    Representations of urban/suburban/rural spaces and communities at
    war in film and television, social media, video games, or other
    audiovisual media.

  *

    Space and place-based studies of location shooting in war
    film/TV/video game production.

  *

    Media and the militarization of infrastructure.

  *

    Phenomenological/experiential accounts of militarized environments.

  *

    The role of militarized technologies in sensing, surveilling, and
    targeting environments.

  *

    The relationship between particular forms of audiovisual media and
    the broader visual cultures that inform their representations of
    militarized environments.

  *

    Militarized environments and cultural memory.

  *

    Documenting the environmental impacts of war both within and outside
    conflict zones.

  *

    Environmental justice perspectives on war that account for
    disproportionate impacts on the basis of race, class, and/or gender.

  *

    Ecocritical approaches to war film/TV/social media/video games.

  *

    Media that strive to offer ecocentric perspectives in order to
    reorient or reframe common anthropocentric notions of conflict and war.

  *

    Rethinking war through ecological elements as media (e.g.,
    radiation, oil, air, sound).


The book will be submitted to Rutgers University Press’ War Culture 
series. Read more about the series here:_
_https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/search-results-grid/?series=war-culture 
<https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/search-results-grid/?series=war-culture>.

Chapters should be at most 8,500 words, inclusive of notes.


Interested contributors should submit a 300-word abstract of your 
proposed chapter and a 100-word bio to Cortland Rankin ((rankicw /at/ bgsu.edu) 
<mailto:(rankicw /at/ bgsu.edu)>) and Brady Fletcher 
((brady.fletcher /at/ rochester.edu) <mailto:(brady.fletcher /at/ rochester.edu)>) by 
February 16, 2024. Authors will be informed of the selection by early 
March. The due date for chapter drafts will be July 1, 2024, with 
revision requests returned to you by early August 2024 and your 
revisions due back by October 1, 2024. Our current goal is to have the 
volume finalized and sent to the publisher by late 2024, with the book 
expected to be published in 2025. Inquiries should be directed to the 
email addresses above.



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