Call for Papers

Workshop: UNSETTLING THE VOLATILE AND VOLUMETRIC BORDERLANDS

The contemporary geopolitical turmoil is generating increasingly tense and volatile borderscapes as states across the world seek to assert control over layers of airspace, militarized seas and extensive terrestrial boundaries. The volumetric turn in border studies has drawn attention to the challenges of imposing linear boundaries across inherently three-dimensional spaces. Scholarship has shown that rather than fixed lines on a map, borders emerge through practices that extend vertically across multiple spatial layers. Yet, there are limits to understanding borderscapes merely through state- or human-centred agency.

This one-day workshop focuses on the multiplicity of actors involved in shaping the material and political practices of territory, particularly as state control is extended across volumes and spatial thickness. Moving beyond conventional approaches that foreground human actors and the abstract state, the workshop turns attention to the diverse range of ‘Others’ that take part in the shaping of territorial governance. By foregrounding non-human and multispecies agencies, the workshop invites contributions that examine how atmospheric forces, marine ecologies, terrains, infrastructures and other material entities, enable, channel, constrain or transform the practices of territorially projected governance. The workshop approaches borderlands as thick, dynamic and volumetric spaces where animals, plants, soils, rocks, sediments, elements, microbes and other entities actively shape the material and political practices of territory, influencing how borders are enacted, negotiated and contested.

We invite presentations that demonstrate how non-human and multispecies agencies emerge, interact with, and transform the practices of territorial governance and bordering. Contributions may explore how such agencies influence geopolitical dynamics, reshape territorial governance or challenge established understandings of borders. We particularly welcome presentations focusing on geopolitically tense borderscapes, including contested aerial, maritime and terrestrial environments, though contributions examining similar dynamics in other contexts are equally encouraged. 

Submission Guidelines: Please submit an abstract of 250–350 words and a short biographical note to Karin Dean (dean@tlu.ee) by MARCH 27. 

Important Dates and Information

• Abstract submission deadline: March 27, 2026
• Notification of acceptance: April 2, 2026. 
  • The selected participants must cover their own travel and accommodation expenses.
• Sharing the paper/presentation with panel discussant: April 28, 2026. 
  • We plan ample time for discussions and in-depth engagement with the themes, thus participants are asked to share the papers (or texts-in-progress) with the panel chair and other panelists days before the workshop.    
• Workshop at Tallinn University: 10:00-17:00, May 6, 2026 
• For any inquiries, please contact Karin Dean (dean@tlu.ee)