Journal of Iranian Cultural Research

Journal of Iranian Cultural Research

Episodic war and frontline society in late modernity: War, social transformation, and the opening of the future

Document Type : Scientific Research Manuscript

Author
Assistant Professor of Sciences and Technology Studies, Institute for Social and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
War is one of the most significant social phenomena shaping the organization of time, space, and social relations. Yet, its relationship with social transformation cannot be understood solely in terms of destructive or progressive consequences. Adopting a temporal-spatial perspective, this article examines the transformative mechanisms of war under conditions of late modernity and its relationship with different forms of social transformation. The article adopts a qualitative approach based on documentary research and conceptual analysis. The documentary component examines theoretical literature and relevant studies on war, social transformation, and the temporal and spatial dimensions of modern societies. The principal concepts are then analyzed by identifying their dimensions and characteristics, distinguishing them from related concepts, reconstructing and reformulating them conceptually, and situating them in relation to other concepts. It first compares three fundamental forms of modern social transformation—social planning, social reform, and revolution—in terms of their temporal-spatial organization, arguing that war, particularly in its episodicized forms, incorporates key temporal-spatial dynamics of all three. The concept of “episodic war” is proposed to describe a pattern of conflict characterized by speed, rupture, unstable continuity, and an indeterminate temporal horizon. “Frontline society,” meanwhile, refers to a condition in which the boundaries between the frontline and society, the military and civilian spheres, and war and everyday life become increasingly blurred through the integration of new technologies. It argues that the relationship between episodic war and frontline society should be understood within the broader context of an “episodic world,” in which these two phenomena interact through a synergistic and mutually reinforcing relationship. War is therefore conceptualized as a driving force of time-space compression, as a multidirectional field in which competing possibilities of social transformation emerge within an episodic world.
Keywords

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  • Receive Date 09 May 2026
  • Revise Date 23 July 2026
  • Accept Date 01 August 2026