[Philosop] CfP Natality: Technologies and Languages of Birth and Becoming
Alfred Nordmann
Another issue of "Technology and Language" has appeared, and with it a
new call for contributions that appeals to the history and philosophy of
science, technology, and medicine, to cultural and science studies or
political phenomenology.
The latest issue features nine papers on Technological Modernization,
guest edited by Carl Mitcham, YAN Ping, and YE Luyang: The main question
concerns the very idea of non-Western modernization, an idea actively
pursued in China, Russia, and elsewhere. On first sight, modernity and
the „modern world“ cannot be dissociated from modern science and the
Englightenment tradition, including the emergence of liberal democracies
and capitalism in the West. And yet, there may be ways to treat
technological modernization separately from political modernization –
and the challenge of ecological modernization may play a role here. In
the meantime, Large Language Models register the effects of
predominantly Western modernization. The collection of papers considers
the systematic questions in the Chinese and Russian context, it also
reflects different engineering traditions and contemporary technological
challenges. It concludes with a detailed hermeneutic exploration of
relevant differences between the two most famous Club of Rome reports. –
Finally, this issue features a contibuted paper on Tacit Knowledge and
Secrecy in the Patent Office, along with the first ever book review in
Technology and Language of CHENG Lin’s proposal for RoboHumanities.
The freely downloadable issue can be found here:
https://soctech.spbstu.ru/en/issue/22/
and here is a gallery/overview of the 22 issues so far:
http://www.philosophie.tu-darmstadt.de/T_and_L
This is the new CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS (deadline April 5, 2027)
„Natality: Technologies and Languages of Birth and Becoming“:
How does a living being become a citizen? From Caesarean sections to
surrogacy, from incubators to genetic screening, technologies of birth
have always redefined the boundary between the natural and the
artificial. But they also transform human-world and social relations and
who counts as a political subject. For the one who was “untimely ripp'd”
by Caesarian section, Shakespeare asked whether he is „from a woman
born.“ How do linguistic acts – legal definitions, medical terminology,
translations within genetic diagnosis, ritual speech, even the words
spoken to a child in the womb – co-determine the transition from
biological life to political personhood?
We invite historians, philosophers, and social scientists to explore
natality as a nexus of technology, language, and governance – from the
long eighteenth century (medical ethics, political embryology,
cameralism) to contemporary cases (reproductive technologies,
post-Soviet pedagogical experiments, neonatal care). Topics include
expert conflicts over the fetal body, the politics of early childhood,
perinatal biopolitics, and critical reassessments of Foucault, Arendt,
and Agamben. Extended abstracts (500–800 words) are welcome ideally by
October 1, 2026, the deadline for full papers is April 5, 2027. See
https://soctech.spbstu.ru/en/news/ for a longer version of this Call for
Papers. Contact soc...@spbstu.ru or nord...@phil.tu-darmstadt.de for
contribution to this special issue which is guest-edited by Alexander
Markov and Christina Schües.
Other open calls (shortened):
„Machine Learning for Learning Machines“ (deadline: July 5, 2026) – In
the age of AI, readers and writers, students and teachers are confronted
with new questions: When any text can be generated or translated
automatically, why learn languages at all? When machines can train
humans, is this the future of pedagogy? – These questions refer to
AI-powered systems like large language models; to human cognition
itself, that is to our biologically endowed faculty to acquire knowledge
and harness skills; as well as to AI-driven educational assistants
designed to augment human learning. They evoke the age-old dream of
computational devices that elucidate language, generate new ideas, and
lay the foundation for universal communication. (Guest editors: Andrey
Baykov and Nguyen Ngoc Vu).
“Theatrum Machinarium” (deadline: Oct 5, 2026) The technologies of the
theatre begin with the buildings themselves and how they organize the
spectators' orientation towards a performance. They go on with curtains
and fly-systems, lighting and sound, with make-up and video projection,
with fabrics and props. All of these disclose a space for action of a
certain type, they organize perception and the creation of meaning.
Theatre, in this sense, does not just operate with technologies but
functions as a technology of its own. And so, role-playing is a
theatrical technique as are reenactments. And then there is dramaturgy
itself and the mechanisms it proposes for the proper incitement of
passion. – Aside from history and philosophy ot theatre and technology,
transdisciplinary reflections from cultural and media studies are
welcome, as is the appreciation of literary devices, or empirical
participant-observation of theatrical experiments. (Guest editors:
Yerevand Margaryan and Lucien von Schomberg).
Issue 8:1 (deadline: Jan 5, 2027) will be dedicated to Open Submissions
on any subject at the intersection of Technology and Language.
Beyond these calls for special topics, submitted papers and
interdisciplinary explorations at the interface of technology and
language are always welcome. The next deadline for submitted papers is
July 10, 2026.
“Technology and Language” is a quarterly journal: international, peer
reviewed, Scopus listed, online, open access, academic (no fees).
Queries, suggestions, and submissions can be addressed to
soc...@spbstu.ru or to Daria Bylieva (bylie...@spbstu.ru) and Alfred
Nordmann (nord...@phil.tu-darmstadt.de
_______________________________________________
Philosop mailing list
Phil...@lists.louisiana.edu
https://lists.louisiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/philosop