Symposium: Territory and Sovereignty on the Korean Peninsula

 

Korea Institute, Harvard University

CALL FOR PAPERS

TERRITORY AND SOVEREIGNTY ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA
an online symposium

MARCH 9, 2023
Abstract Deadline: January 5, 2023

The term “territory” is conventionally used as a synonym for the space over which a state exercises sovereign power. Since the mid-twentieth century, both North and South Korea have famously wielded state power to secure the boundaries of their territories and to pursue competing paths to development. Yet Korean territory has also long been shaped by imperial entanglements—through relations with China, through colonization by Japan, and through the division system itself. It has also been shaped by non-state actors, from anti-colonial activists and peace activists to real estate speculators. 

Scholars from social science, humanities, and policy-oriented disciplines are invited to reflect on the theme of Territory and Sovereignty on the Korean Peninsula. We seek contributions that push beyond conventional notions of territory and sovereignty to offer new perspectives on the politics of how state, imperial, and/or non-state actors claim space, produce space, and recover space in historical and contemporary Korea. We welcome contributions that critically reflect on systems of power, and we welcome contributions that envision emancipatory alternatives to the status quo. Potential topics include:

            *Pre/modern state and imperial techno-politics of territory

            *Sovereignty and nationalism in North and South Korea

            *The division system, unification, and the Demilitarized Zone

            *Security dilemmas on the Korean Peninsula

            *Volumetric, maritime, and other territories and sovereignties

            *Korean Studies engagements with Indigenous Studies

            *Development and real estate in North and South Korea

            *Nature, ecology, conservation, and extractivism

            *The US-South Korea alliance and US military bases  

Submit abstracts (300 words or less) addressing the symposium theme to territoryandsovereignty@gmail.com by January 5, 2023. Notification of acceptance will be sent by January 12, 2023. The event will be held via Zoom. Participants will not be asked to submit full papers at the time of the symposium, but they may be invited to submit full papers for a special issue at a later date.

Supported by the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) Endowment for Korean Studies at the Korea Institute, Harvard University.