New Colonialisms: Technological Development, Linguistic Expansions, and Economic-Ecological Exploitations

New Colonialisms: Technological Development, Linguistic Expansions, and Economic-Ecological Exploitations

In a hyperconnected and global world, where concepts such as racial capitalism, fossil aesthetics, energy transition, platformization, or data extractivism have expanded and settled within academic circles and occasionally in popular contexts, it is relevant to examine these concepts in relation to colonialism. In a digital environment where new forms of violence and control are generated—often based on asymmetrical power relations between the Global North and South—it is worth asking how these historical conditions of exploitation have diversified and become more widespread in recent times. This issue invites submissions related to approaches to what we call new colonialisms. Specifically, the dossier aims to foster a dialogue on the legacies, consequences, and transformations concerning the exploitation of natural resources, the trafficking of data, materials, and people, and the impact of digital and material infrastructures on contemporary social, economic, cultural, and ecological processes.

A powerful quote from Patrick Wolfe in his book Settler Colonialism and the Transformation of Anthropology can serve as a guide and inspiration for this collection on new colonialisms: “The colonizers come to stay - invasion is a structure, not an event” (1999, p. 2). Hence, our call for submissions that address different facets of colonialism in its various technological, linguistic, audiovisual, economic, or ecological forms.

Manuscripts submitted (maximum length 8,500 words) should be registered on the journal's platform available at: https://arbor.revistas.csic.es/index.php/arbor/about/submissions. Instructions for preparing submissions can be found in the link above, under the "Submissions/Author Guidelines" section.

Deadline for proposals: June 30, 2025. Publication date: 2026.

Guest Editors of the Special Issue: Miguel Fernández Labayen, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid - Farshad Zahedi, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid