CfP: Grenzbilder - Border Images. On the visual representation of national borders.

Call for paper: PDF Download

At a time when images are omnipresent and borders have once again become the focus of social and political debates, we would like to examine the role of visual representations of current and historical borders. These images in the form of photographs, videos on social media platforms and AI-generated fictions shape our perception, play a role in the legitimisation of social orders, in political communication and the emergence of specific visual communities (Raab 2008). Questions of social grievances and social domination are fought out through images. At the same time, images are always subject to certain subjectivisations and limitations, such as the choice of motif, the detail, the point of view, the possibilities and limitations of the technology used. The technical requirements in photojournalism or for military image techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated. At the same time, counter-techniques such as counter-mapping, which (also) utilise image forensic methods, are being advanced and the possibilities for manipulation, subversion and mass distribution are reaching unprecedented proportions.

In order to explore the range of visual representations of (nation-state) borders, we invite researchers and students from the social and cultural sciences (communication, media studies, border studies, museum studies, social and cultural anthropology and related fields) and art studies to submit short essays or papers for a working paper on the topic of border images. We would like to highlight the diversity of perspectives and interpretations that arise from analysing border images and their importance for understanding social processes and dynamics. We are looking for short contributions (max. 5,000-15,000 characters, including spaces) that deal with an image or a series of images with regard to a current or historical issue of your choice.

Please submit an image with a caption by 15 September 2025 to klessmann@europa-uni.de and briefly outline the extent to which the selected image/series is a relevant representation of the border and what perspective you would like to develop on it.

Submission and schedule:
- Submission of image with short written sketch (max. 1 page): 15 September 2025
- Notification of acceptance: end of September
- Submission of full entries (5,000-15,000 characters, incl. spaces): 15 January 2026

Contact for queries/submissions: Maria Klessmann (klessmann@europa-uni.de)