This is a final call for submissions for the edited book Visual Ecologies of Placemaking. The book is now under contract with Bloomsbury and, due to the recent withdrawal of two contributors, we are looking for replacement chapters. We are particularly keen to receive proposals that address the Arab and Islamic worlds and African American communities in the United States/the Black Lives Matter movement, to fill gaps left by the withdrawn contributions.
In the decades since the publication of Henri Lefebvre’s The Production of Space (1974), the so-called “spatial turn” has prompted a profound reevaluation of the ways in which place is much more than a mere physical demarcation. Place is a spatial, social, cultural, and topographic (or geographic) construct, and the places that we occupy range from tangible to virtual. These places operate as stages for performance and as social actors themselves, and they shape and are shaped by a range of visual encounters and sensory practices.
The multidisciplinary volume Visual Ecologies of Place-Making seeks to understand the ways in which place is made, apprehended, and negotiated through various visual, performative, and bodily acts. Coming from the Greek oikos—meaning both house and larger familial network—“ecology” comprehends place as a holistic environment that is intimately invested with notions of identity. Indeed, as geographers Yi-Fu Tuan and Nigel Thrift have argued, place is a distinct form of space that is fundamentally defined by lived experiences and emotional attachments. “Ecology” recognizes place as a lived (in) environment and a living organism: it responds to internal and external stimuli, acts upon the creatures within it, and evolves in response to the interconnected actions of its inhabitants. Ecology further denotes place as an immersive environment that surrounds and subsumes, and is experienced and represented through the senses (including and beyond vision).
Visual Ecologies of Place-Making explores strategies and ecologies of place-making across three sections connected to 1) ritual and performance, 2) exclusion and appropriation, and 3) recovery and loss.
We seek proposals for essays of approximately 5000 words that address these themes from diverse perspectives, across disciplines, cultures, and time periods.
We are particularly interested in projects that can address one of the following areas:
- The Arab/Islamic world (including ongoing conflicts in Israel-Palestine)
- Black Lives Matter and related movements; black communities in the United States
- Indigenous experiences of, perspectives on, and relationships to place (includes colonialism/settler colonialism, colonial legacies, and decolonial initiatives)
The book is already under contract and we are seeking two final contributions. Please send abstracts of 250 words, along with a brief bio, to Pamela Stewart (pstewa13@emich.edu) and Leslie Atzmon (latzmon@emich.edu) by July 20, 2021 at the very latest.
Since we are working on a tight calendar, late proposals cannot be accepted. Potential contributors should be prepared to submit a first draft by October 15, 2021. Revisions will occur in November with quick turnarounds expected.
Pamela Stewart, assistant professor of art history, Eastern Michigan University, pstewa13@emich.edu
Leslie Atzmon, professor of graphic design and design history, Eastern Michigan University, latzmon@emich.edu
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