Call for Papers /// Unearthing the Earth: Architectural Histories of Extractivism, March 26–27, 2026, Cornell University, USA
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UNEARTHING THE EARTH: ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIES OF EXTRACTIVISM
March 26–27, 2026
HAUS (History of Architecture and Urbanism Society), Cornell University
OVERVIEW
Recent scholarship in the environmental and energy humanities has called attention to regimes of energy transition. The discussion on futures "after oil" marks a shift from earlier studies of oil assemblages, which evolved from analyses of coal-based fossil capitalism. The spaces shaped by these transitions have attracted scholarly interest, especially in the context of studies on the architecture of company towns, petroleumscapes, and oil heritage sites. Central to these investigations is a consistent focus on the logic of extraction itself. Energy sources such as coal and oil do not perform merely as extracted commodities; they serve as the energetic infrastructure that facilitates further extraction of timber, gold, copper, lead, uranium, and many other materials. In this sense, the very logic of energy consumption is fundamentally shaped by and inseparable from extractivism's broader logics.
Extractivism, as a practice, relies on an expansive spatial infrastructure—from pipelines to refineries, mining camps to oil enclaves, storage facilities to ports—leaving a lasting architectural imprint across the world. Histories of architectural and spatial techniques can illuminate the ideologies and systems—such as property, land tenure, labor, gender, and racial regimes—that underpin the governance modes of extractivism. By analyzing extractivism itself, rather than just the "extractive economy," historians can shift their focus from specific resources to the spatial processes that rendered the Earth extractable. This approach highlights the spatial technologies and spatial management that allow us to understand how the politics and beliefs surrounding extractivism appear in the act of "resource-making."
The doctoral students of Cornell University’s History of Architecture and Urbanism Society (HAUS) invite scholars engaged with the spatial and infrastructural aspects of extractivism from various fields, including environmental humanities, Science and Technology Studies (STS), labor history, political economy, and decolonial and postcolonial studies, to contribute to a global understanding of the connections between extractivism and the management of life for their Spring 2026 Symposium. We also encourage architectural historians and graduate students to explore the broader context of extraction, including studies that examine the spatial and architectural histories linked to extractivism. This inquiry should extend beyond the framework of fossil capitalism to consider the gendered, racial, class-based, and religious dimensions of extractivism.
Titled “Unearthing the Earth: Architectural Histories of Extraction,” the symposium poses several key questions: How can we understand the historical development of extractivism from the perspective of architectural history? What narratives emerge when we trace the origins of extractivism beyond its traditional links to fossil fuels and fossil capitalism? In what ways has architecture mediated, facilitated, or resisted extractive regimes, and how has extraction influenced urban development, housing, lived experiences, labor conditions, and the liminality of soil and subsoil ecologies? The symposium aims to uncover alternative histories of extraction by incorporating indigenous, decolonial, and non-Western perspectives. Additionally, it seeks to explore what architectural archives and visual materials can reveal about these dynamics.
500-WORD ABSTRACTS ARE DUE ON OCTOBER 15, 2025.
This will be an in-person symposium.
SCHEDULE
October 15, 2025: Deadline to submit to the call for papers
December 1, 2025: Acceptance notifications sent
February 1, 2026: Deadline to submit full papers
February 27, 2026: Edits and comments sent
March 26–27, 2026: Symposium
LOCATION
Cornell AAP
Ithaca, New York, US
LINK
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