Call for Papers
Contributions in English, German, French, Portuguese, Czech, Spanish and Italian should be submitted to guldinr.rainer@bluewin.ch
All papers are thoroughly double-blind peer-reviewed for originality, soundness, significance and relevance. Authors will be notified of the status of their papers within three months of submission. The journal publishes papers up to 8500 words, as well as shorter texts up to 3000 (event reports, reviews of books, comments on papers etc.).
Flusser Studies is aimed at a reading audience already familiar with the general outline of Flusser’s philosophy as well as with the essentials of his biography. General introductory references to the life and work of Vilém Flusser should, therefore, be avoided.
Flusser Studies is published twice a year (May and November).
Flusser Studies 39 (May 2025)
Part I: Vilém Flusser and Politics
Because of his remarkable life Vilém Flusser (1920-1991) is a key witness of the 20th century. Just as he was against National Socialism and nationalism in general, Flusser was also anti-communist. He justifies his turning away from communism, which he had briefly embraced as a young man during his time in Prague, with the Hitler-Stalin pact, that is, the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact which in his eyes placed both totalitarianisms on the same level. In Brazil, his anti-communism put him at a distance from the communist resistance against the military dictatorship, whose fascism he also rejected. This led to his return to Europe in the early 70s. Brazil. After the collapse of the communist regime, Flusser reacted energetically against the newly emerging nationalisms. He also commented on the viability of the newly created Ukraine, because of its incompatible Catholic and Orthodox components. He considered the Vietnam War an inevitable defence of the free West and thought that the rise of China was unstoppable. In the 80s he travelled to Israel towards which he had mixed feelings.
We invite contributions that deal with the role politics played in Flusser’s life and work, his critique of totalitarian regimes, and the political dimension of his communicology and media theory.
Part II: Open contributions
Any contribution on Flusser and his work is welcome.
Please submit your contribution before April 15th, 2025, to guldin.rainer@bluewin.ch and michaelhankebeaga@yahoo.com.br
Flusser Studies 40 (November 2025)
Special Twentieth Anniversary Issue
Flusser Studies was founded in 2005. At that time, nobody would have imagined that it would survive for twenty years within the constantly evolving global landscape of the internet. The journal with its 39 issues, well over 300 authors and nearly 500 contributions (texts, pictures and videos) is an archive of twenty years of international research into the thinking and writing of Vilém Flusser: a tribute to remembrance and the importance of history in a world obsessively bent on renewing itself while rapidly forgetting its own past.
Here are some of the possible questions the contributors might want to address: Is Flusser’s thinking, nearly thirty-five years after his tragic and sudden death in November 1991, still relevant to us? Which parts of his work are dated and which parts point to the future? Are there any areas of his thinking that have been ignored so far or not dealt with sufficiently? How has Flusser been reinterpreted in the work of contemporary thinkers, for instance by the German Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han? What role did and does Flusser Studies play in the academic debate and beyond, for instance in the work of visual artists? And finally, which are the most inspiring and influential contributions published in Flusser Studies so far?
Both essays (up to 8500 words) and short statements (up to 3000 words) as well as pictures and videos are welcome.
Please submit your contribution before August 1st, 2025, to guldin.rainer@bluewin.ch
Flusser Studies 41 (May 2026) is not a special issue. Any contribution on Flusser and his work is therefore welcome.
Please submit your contribution before March 1st, 2026 to guldin.rainer@bluewin.ch