Fwd: call for abstracts: "ECO-NARRATIVES OF VOLCANIC ECOLOGIES FROM PAST UNTIL THE PRESENT: A GEO-ONTOLOGICAL TURN"

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Nikoleta Zampaki

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Jan 7, 2026, 4:08:16 PMJan 7

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ECO-NARRATIVES OF VOLCANIC ECOLOGIES FROM PAST UNTIL THE PRESENT: A GEO-ONTOLOGICAL TURN

Guest Editors:

Prof. Andreas Markantonatos - University of the Peloponnese, Greece.
Dr. Nikoleta Zampaki (Corresponding Editor) - National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Prof. Joseph Reylan B. Viray - Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Philippines
Prof. Fleurdeliz R. Altez-Albela (Managing Editor, Philosophia) University of Santo Tomas, Philippines

Call for Papers:

The special issue is born from a profound conviction: to understand humanity’s relationship with the most dynamic of terrestrial forces, that of volcanoes, as we require a philosophical framework capable of articulating a primal, sensory, and ontological intimacy. The special issue seeks to chart cultural eco-narratives that emerge from this intimacy, arguing that volcanoes have co-constituted distinct eco-ontologies, or ways of being-in-the-world.

To fully excavate and articulate these eco-ontologies, the special issue is grounded in the philosophical tradition of Eco-Phenomenology, specifically leveraging Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s concepts of the flesh of the world and the chiasm. This theoretical lens is not merely decorative, but it is essential for moving beyond dualistic (human/volcano, culture/nature, subject/object) analyses and into the realm of intertwined, embodied existence.

Volcanoes have long been portrayed in Western thought as both sublime objects of fear and fascination, as well as resources and hazards to be managed. Such perspectives, however, often relegate the volcano to a passive backdrop against which human drama unfolds. Conversely, many Indigenous and place-based traditions speak of volcanic beings as ancestors, deities, and active kin. This special issue posits that these are not “primitive” myths, but sophisticated, empirically grounded ontologies that prefigure contemporary philosophical insights into ecological entanglement. Our central question is: How can we take these lived realities seriously as coherent worldviews, and what can they teach us in an age of ecological crisis?

Eco-Phenomenology, with its commitment to the primacy of embodied and lived experience, provides the methodological bridge, insisting that we know the world not through abstract intellect first, but through our senses, movement, suffering, and so forth. A volcanic landscape is not a picture to behold; it is a milieu to be inhabited. It is known through the feet on thermally heated ground, the lungs filled with humid, sulfur-scented air, the ears attuned to subsonic rumbles, the eyes scanning for subtle fumarolic shifts, and the taste of ash on the tongue. This embodied, perceptual knowledge forms the bedrock of volcanic eco-ontologies. An eco-phenomenological approach compels us to analyze historical and contemporary narratives not just for their content, but for the sensible world they imply—the texture of life they describe from within.

It is Merleau-Ponty’s unfinished work, particularly his notion of the flesh of the world, that provides the deepest philosophical grounding for this special issue. For Merleau-Ponty, flesh is not matter or substance, but a fundamental element of Being—a “general thing,” a reversible tissue that constitutes both the perceiver and the perceived. In a volcanic context, this becomes powerfully literal. The volcano is not an inert object. It touches the community with its ashfall, blankets it with its fertility, and scars it with its lava flows. The human and nonhuman communities, in turn, touch the volcano through cultivation on its slopes, rituals at its vents, and stories in its shadow. The porous, permeable basalt and the breathing, sensing human body are different inflections of the same chthonic flesh. This perspective validates, e.g., Indigenous assertions of kinship and allows us to analyze volcanic narratives as expressions of this shared corporeality.

In the era of Anthropocene, characterized by human-induced planetary volatility, the volcano returns with new urgency. It stands as the archetype of a nonhuman, terrestrial agency that utterly dwarfs our control. Eco-Phenomenology allows us to meet this agency not with terror alone, but with a recognition of our embeddedness, creating new eco-narratives that explore coexistence with a vibrant materiality, even ‘repair’ our relationship with the Earth through volcanoes.

This special issue’s rationale is to employ Eco-Phenomenology—specifically the concepts of the flesh of the world and the chiasm—as a critical, restorative, and future-oriented lens. It aims to:

1. restore dignity and philosophical weight to ancestral volcanic eco-ontologies by showing they articulate a sophisticated, embodied understanding of intertwining.

2. diagnose the pathology of disconnection inherent in extractivism and commodification as a severing of the chiasm.

3. illuminate pathways for re-entwinement by highlighting contemporary literary, cultural, artistic, performing, and visual practices that re-weave the flesh of the world.

By tracing eco-narratives through this philosophical framework, we argue that volcanic lands have always produced a unique, emplaced wisdom: a wisdom that understands life as a precarious, vulnerable, but also creative, and deeply sensory dialogue with a powerful earthly body. In listening to these narratives, from the past until the present, we may find the discourse and the posture needed to inhabit our own volatile planet with humility, respect, and a renewed sense of a shared and fleshy Being.

This Special Issue is structured around three interconnected thematic pillars, each exploring a dimension of this chiasmatic relationship.

Pillar I: Foundational Chiasms – Embodied Ontologies of Co-Constitution. Topics Include: Sensorial Cosmogonies, Volcanic Materiality as an Extension of Flesh, Geomancy and Somatic Attunement Pillar

Pillar II: Severed Flesh – Colonialism, Extraction, and the Pathology of Disconnection.

Topics Include: Cartographic Disenchantment and the Spectator’s Gaze, Legal Personhood as Juridical Re-Weaving,Narratives of Exile and Longing

Pillar III: Re-Entwining Flesh – Contemporary Re-negotiations in the Anthropocene.

Topics Include: Eco-Literature, Eco-/Bio-Art, Eco-Performance, and the Aesthetics of Vibrant Matter, Disaster Preparedness as Chiasmic Dialogue, Theorizing the Geologic Turn, Eco-narratives of Multispecies Cohabitation and Repair

Timetable:

• January 5, 2026 - February 28, 2026: call for abstract submissions

• March 1, 2026 - notification of acceptance

• June 30, 2026 - submission of full articles (5.000-8.000 words including references based on Philosophia style sheet and sending it to reviewers

All accepted articles are subject to an Article Processing Charge (APC) of US$300.00 per paper for single authorship and US$175.00/author for two-authored papers.

Manuscripts must conform to the formatting and citation standards of Philosophia (Philippines). Abstract submissions must be uploaded through the official portal. The deadline for abstracts submission is on or before February 28, 2026. All the accepted submissions will undergo double-blind peer review.