A call for papers and panels on War, spatial and temporal logics of violence within the framework of the next European Society for Literature, Science and the Arts Conference to be hold in Stockholm in June 2016. This stream calls for inquiry into these new cartographies of violent contestation in order to rethink the ways in which ideas of proximity/intimacy takes us beyond conventional understandings of war.

Beyond War: Re-thinking Spatial and Temporal Logics of Violence in the 21^st Century

A stream of research of the European Society for Literature, Science and the Arts Conference (Stockholm 14-17 June 2016) organised by Brad Evans (University of Bristol) and Caroline Holmqvist (Université libre de Bruxelles, ULB/Swedish Institute of International Affairs, UI)

Warfare has become increasingly invisible. Just as the vocabulary of the New Wars has been subsumed within narratives of insurgency, popular uprising and criminality, the Global Wars on Terror have all but discursively evaporated into the political ether. That does not suggest an ending to political violence. On the contrary, as the contemporary development/security/environment nexus is deeply intertwined with new technologies for social and political control on a planetary scale, new strategic arrangements are being shaped by complex assemblages that bring together forms of intimacy/remoteness, proximity/distancing and visibility/concealment, in ways that can appear mutually exclusive and re-enforcing. For instance, just as liberal actors in the dangerous borderland areas increasingly find themselves operating within fortified protectorates as part of a great separation from the world, this is matched, albeit it ways that initially appear disconnected, by new forms of violence and governance that also take place at a distance. Such dynamics further complicates the already apparent evisceration of conventional modern demarcations between times of war/times of peace; friend/enemies; inside/outside; civilian/soldier; and pasts/present/futures. 

This stream calls for inquiry into these new cartographies of violent contestation in order to rethink the ways in which ideas of proximity/intimacy takes us beyond conventional understandings of war. Asking what becomes of the very idea of the ‘battlefield’ in subjective, temporal and spatial terms, we invite papers that deal both with the atmospheric and the micro-specific dimensions of the contemporary condition. With emphasis on the techno-science, visual culture and hyper-communication that allow for increasing automation and distanced killings, as well as remote means in the delivery of aid/humanitarian assistance, we invite trans-disciplinary discussions in order to purposefully interrogate the political, cultural, juridical and philosophical stakes. Such concerns we maintain are integral unpacking the politics and ethics of (non)violence in the battlefields of the 21^st Century.

Suggested panels

Temporalities of war

New spatial environments

Bodies in/of war

Lethal technologies

Submission

Deadline for individual abstracts or panel proposals is 14^th December 2015. Individual abstracts should be 250 words. Panel proposals must include three individual abstracts as well as an additional paragraph describing the focus of the panel, including a title. Please send your abstract to info@control2016.com and mark your submission ‘Control-War’.

For further information about the conference, confirmed keynote speakers and information about other streams, see http://control2016.com/