Warfare is entangled with technologies such as weapons, fortifications, transport and maintenance systems to name but few. Evolution of warfare is tied to socio-technical change, industrialisation and social attitudes towards technology (Hecht, 2009, The radiance of France). Civil defense and economic reliability also become important during times of war. Yet not all innovations turn into solutions to expected threats nor does new technology always replace existing ones (Edgerton, 2008, Shock of the old; Harris, 1995, Men, ideas and tanks). When appropriations fail, improvisation and scarcity influence change.
Private and public war industries are essential participants in war. Many complex relationships tend to develop between industry and military authorities (Edgerton, 2006, Warfare state). Behind production loom science, research with developmental organizations, think tanks and laboratories (MacKenzie, 1990, Inventing accuracy). Traumatic experiences of weapons, machines of war and systems can be distilled into archetypical narratives of communal survival and meaning creation, while the role of technology in society becomes muddled. Technology also has a role in terror and reactions to it (Fridlund, 2011, Buckets, bollards and bombs).
The Finnish journal for the history of technology, Tekniikan Waiheita, opens a call for papers on a special issue for 2019 on the many roles technology in war and security. Contributions should engage with the wider field of history of technology while also engaging in novel interpretations on the history of war, military, industry, society and technology. Possible themes are:
• Development of war industry
• Failures and dead ends
• Gender, security and technologies of war
• Military personnel, improvisation and self-made technology
• Military support networks and systems
• Military thought and development of technology
• Military technology, emotions and experiences
• Military-industrial complexes in society
• Population protection technologies
• Science and technology
• Technology and culture in times of war
• Technology and terror
• Technopolitics of military institutions
Proposals of no more than 400 words are to be sent to the editor-in-chief, Aaro Sahari (aaro.sahari@gmail.com) by August 16th 2018. Accepted article proposals will go through a double blind peer review according to Federation of Finnish Learned Societies guidelines. Maximum length for articles is 10 000 words. Drafts are due by Feb 1st 2019 and the special issue will be published in August 2019. For further information, please contact the editor-in-chief.
Tekniikan Waiheita is the sole peer reviewed history of technology quarterly in the Nordic Countries. It is ranked level 1 on the Finnish academic Publication Forum. The journal is published by the Finnish Society for the History of Technology.
Links:
Federation of Finnish Learned Societies guidelines: https://tsv.fi/en/services/label-for-peer-reviewed-scholarly-publications/requirements-for-use
Publication Forum: http://www.julkaisufoorumi.fi/en
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