BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 13.3//EN BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:Call for Papers: Materialities of EmpireOrganizers: Irene Cheng \, James Graham\, Andrew Herscher\, Diana Martinez \;Attention to mate rial has become almost ubiquitous in recent architectural history\, both e xtending and revising a modernist tradition of interest in material innova tion and expression. Whether through the lens of an ethics of representati on\, building technology\, environmental concerns\, supply-chain tracing\, the expansion of historical agency to more-than-human beings\, or develop ments within historical materialism\, attention to materials has both repr oduced received disciplinary formations and opened up new extra-disciplina ry frames.We shift our attention from the materialities of architecture to the materialities of empire in order to bring critical\, theoretical\, hi storical\, and historiographic questions to the fore in explorations of ar chitecture&rsquo\;s contingent and contested material dimensions. More spe cifically\, we aim to assess how historiographic turns to materiality and to imperial and postcolonial formations can inform one another. Imperialis m\, after all\, was a historical system constructed to exercise control no t only over land and people\, but also resources and materials. Might conc erns with materiality\, in both architectural practice and history\, media te architecture&rsquo\;s still underexplored and disavowed imperial lineam ents? Might description and analysis of the materialities of empire expose historical materialism&rsquo\;s fault-lines and aporia around questions o f imperialism? Might considering materiality with empire expand our capaci ty to consider the labor and agency of more-than-metropolitan humans&mdash \;Indigenous place-keepers as well as miners\, foresters\, construction wo rkers\, stevedores\, and other colonial laborers? The Materialities of Emp ire seeks to investigate these and other related questions that bear equal ly on architecture&rsquo\;s pasts and futures. \;Among the questions t hat motivate this line of inquiry are whether and in what forms empire per sists. A quarter of a century ago\, Hardt and Negri&rsquo\;s Empire argued that the modern nation state\, a geopolitical form institutionalized as a bulwark against imperial expansion\, had been eclipsed by a new form of e mpire\, one embedded within the unequal structure of internationalist syst ems. Grounded in the sociotechnical abstractions of globalization on the c usp of the twenty-first century\, Empire focused on the seemingly dimensio nless flows of data\, images\, and capital. Today\, as the systems that su btend the speed and supposed frictionlessness of planetary circulations be come increasingly visible in moments of breakdown and contestation\, archi tecture&rsquo\;s relation to the still-imperial movement of resources (and the laboring populations that mine\, move\, and manage them) requires new forms of scrutiny. We invite contributions that consider how historiograp hies of older imperial forms have under-considered their material dimensio ns or that offer methodological or conceptual insight for scholarly engage ment with the material weight of the present.\nWe seek contributors to par ticipate in a collaborative workshop in spring 2026\, leading to an edited publication. \;\nPlease submit a 300 word proposal and short (1 to 2- page) CV to materialitiesofempire@gmail.com by September 15\, 2025. Select ed authors will take part in a virtual workshop in spring 2026\, which wil l include the submission and discussion of a draft of your chapter.\nQuest ions? Email materialitiesofempire@gmail.com or the individual editors at:I rene Cheng\, irene.cheng@gmail.comJames Graham\, jamesdgraham@gmail.com&nb sp\;Andrew Herscher\, herscher@umich.eduDiana Martinez\, DianaJ.Martinez@g mail.com \; DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250916 DTSTAMP:20251017T062733Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250703 LOCATION:United States SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Call for Papers: Materialities of Empire UID:RFCALITEM638962792539344688 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Call for Papers: Materialities of Empire

Organizers: Irene Cheng\, James Graham \, Andrew Herscher\, Diana Martinez

 \;

Attention to material has become almost ubiquitous in recen t architectural history\, both extending and revising a modernist traditio n of interest in material innovation and expression. Whether through the l ens of an ethics of representation\, building technology\, environmental c oncerns\, supply-chain tracing\, the expansion of historical agency to mor e-than-human beings\, or developments within historical materialism\, atte ntion to materials has both reproduced received disciplinary formations an d opened up new extra-disciplinary frames.

We shift our attention from the materialities of architecture to the materialities of empire in order to bring critical\, theoretic al\, historical\, and historiographic questions to the fore in exploration s of architecture&rsquo\;s contingent and contested material dimensions. M ore specifically\, we aim to assess how historiographic turns to materiali ty and to imperial and postcolonial formations can inform one another. Imp erialism\, after all\, was a historical system constructed to exercise con trol not only over land and people\, but also resources and materials. Mig ht concerns with materiality\, in both architectural practice and history\ , mediate architecture&rsquo\;s still underexplored and disavowed imperial lineaments? Might description and analysis of the materialities of empire expose historical materialism&rsquo\;s fault-lines and aporia around ques tions of imperialism? Might considering materiality with empire expand our capacity to consider the labor and agency of more-than-metropolitan human s&mdash\;Indigenous place-keepers as well as miners\, foresters\, construc tion workers\, stevedores\, and other colonial laborers? The Materialities of Empire< /span> seeks to in vestigate these and other related questions that bear equally on architect ure&rsquo\;s pasts and futures. \;

Among the questio ns that motivate this line of inquiry are whether and in what forms empire persists. A quarter of a century ago\, Hardt and Negri&rsquo\;s Empire argued that the modern nation state\, a geopolitic al form institutionalized as a bulwark against imperial expansion\, had be en eclipsed by a new form of empire\, one embedded within the unequal stru cture of internationalist systems. Grounded in the sociotechnical abstract ions of globalization on the cusp of the twenty-first century\, Empire focused on the seemingly dimensionless flows of dat a\, images\, and capital. Today\, as the systems that subtend the speed an d supposed frictionlessness of planetary circulations become increasingly visible in moments of breakdown and contestation\, architecture&rsquo\;s r elation to the still-imperial movement of resources (and the laboring popu lations that mine\, move\, and manage them) requires new forms of scrutiny . We invite contributions that consider how historiographies of older impe rial forms have under-considered their material dimensions or that offer m ethodological or conceptual insight for scholarly engagement with the mate rial weight of the present.

\nWe seek cont ributors to participate in a collaborative workshop in spring 2026\, leadi ng to an edited publication. \;

\nPle ase submit a 300 word proposal and short (1 to 2-page) CV to materialitiesofempire@gma il.com by September 15\, 2025. Selected authors will take part in a virtual workshop in spring 2026\, which will include the submis sion and discussion of a draft of your chapter.

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Questions? Email materialitiesofempire@gmail.com or the individual editors at:

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