CfP: "Ecologies of Relation – Post-humanist Perspectives on Climate, Water, Arts, and the More-than-Human World”

Ecologies of Relation invites scholars, artists, researchers, and practitioners to explore how human, more-than-human, and technical systems are entangled within ecological, cultural, and political processes in the Anthropocene. Moving beyond human-centered frameworks, the conference foregrounds relational thinking to examine climate change, water, landscape, infrastructure, food systems, and artistic practices as co-constitutive forces shaping collective life and planetary futures. Grounded in post-humanist, more-than-human, and environmental humanities approaches, the conference brings theoretical debates into dialogue with artistic practices, empirical case studies, and interdisciplinary research. Rather than treating nature, technology, and culture as separate domains, Ecologies of Relation emphasizes their interdependencies, frictions, and shared vulnerabilities. The conference also engages with emerging configurations of planetary power shaped by climate geopolitics, infrastructural dependencies, technological sovereignty, and algorithmic governance, without reducing ecological relations to state-centered or security-driven frameworks.

Conference Themes

1. Theoretical & Conceptual Approaches

• Posthumanist and more-than-human theories
• Anthropocene and climate debates
• Geontologies and geontopower
• Philosophy of animals and multispecies thinking

2. Ecologies of Water, Climate & Infrastructure

• Water ontologies and hydro-social relations
• Climate change, adaptation, and resilience
• Infrastructures of life (water, energy, food, waste)
• Urban, rural, and hydro-ecologies
• Infrastructural power, strategic chokepoints, and climate geopolitics

3. Arts, Landscape & Cultural Practices

• Experimental arts, moving image, and sound
• Art, extractivism, and landscape
• Literature and ecological imaginaries
• Food sovereignty, land, and multispecies relations

4. Methods & Interdisciplinary Encounters

• Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary climate research
• Artistic research and practice-based methods
• Situated, relational, and participatory approaches

Keywords (suggested)

Anthropocene, posthumanism, ecologies of relation, more-than-human worlds, climate change, water ontologies, infrastructure, environmental humanities, arts and ecology, extractivism, landscape, food sovereignty, Gaia, planetary processes, multispecies relations, climate geopolitics, infrastructure diplomacy, tech sovereignty, AI power politics, strategic chokepoints

Submission Guideline

• Abstracts of 250–300 words
• Please include title, 3–5 keywords, and a short bio
• Submission email: culturalstudies@batman.edu.tr
• Abstract deadline: June 1st 2026
• Notification of acceptance: July 1st 2026
• Full Paper Submission: September 1st 2026

The conference welcomes academic papers, artistic research presentations, visual and media-based works, and practice-oriented contributions.

Language
The official languages of the conference are English and Turkish.

Publication Opportunity (decision later)
Selected contributions may be considered for an edited volume or a special journal issue following the conference.