From Individual Events to the Morphology of Military Contamination: An Epistemological Study of Form, Process, and Morphogenesis.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66659/resz8h58Keywords:
Military contamination; morphology of natural processes; morphology of mili-tary contamination; morphogenesis; epistemology; philosophy of science; process ontology; complex systems; self-organization; emergence; environmental conse-quences of war; natural-anthropogenic processes; assemblages; DeLanda; scientific models; theory-ladenness of observation.Abstract
Research on military contamination usually begins with the description of individual cases: specific wars, specific territories, specific contaminants, and specific environmental and health consequences. This approach is both inevitable and necessary. However, the accumulation of numerous facts does not by itself create a theoretical understanding of the process.
The central problem is the transition from a collection of individual events to an understanding of the morphology of military contamination as a distinct natural-anthropogenic process. Military contamination is initiated by human activity, but once it emerges, it becomes incorporated into natural systems and develops through interaction with soil, hydrological, geochemical, biological, climatic, and social processes.
This lecture examines the epistemological problem of such a transition. It draws upon ideas from the philosophy of science, process ontology, morphogenesis, complexity theory, self-organization, and assemblage theory.
Military contamination is considered not only as a collection of consequences of war, but also as a source of new processes capable of altering the environmental history of territories over long periods of time. For this reason, a special epistemology of military contamination is required—one capable of connecting individual cases, models, observations, and theoretical concepts into a unified research program.
References
2. Olson, Kenneth. 2026. "Engineering Transformations of New York Canal System and Long-Term Environmental and Public Health Implications." Pollution and Diseases, May. https://doi.org/10.66659/ywg2pw58
3. Lal, Rattan. 2026. "Soil Health and War." Pollution and Diseases, May. https://doi.org/10.66659/74xm7p81
4. Gibbs, Andrew. 2026. "Beyond the TCDD Lens in Paritutu New Plymouth, New Zealand: Invisible Phenoxy-Herbicide Co-Contaminants, Visible Devel-opmental Signals, and Decision-Making under Incomplete Evidence." Pol-lution and Diseases, May. https://doi.org/10.66659/ar7fqk65
5. Morton, Lois. 2026. "Transformation of Soil and Water Properties in Agri-cultural Lands by Military Activity: Perspectives and Guiding Principles for the Reconstruction of War-Ravaged Agricultural Lands and Waters." Pol-lution and Diseases 2 (April): 43-64. https://doi.org/10.66659/pd.2026.004
6. Nikolaenko, Dmitry. 2026. "Fiber-Optic Drone Tether Debris (FODTD) as an Emerging Form of War-Related Environmental Contamination." Pollution and Diseases, May, 15 pages. https://doi.org/10.66659/swfqsz58
7. Nikolaenko, Dmitry. 2026. "Military Contamination and Regimes of Scien-tific Recognition: A Conceptual Framework." Pollution and Diseases, June, 15 pages. https://doi.org/10.66659/bb4q9n88
8. Nikolaenko D. Introduction in Metatheory of Metageography. Moscow, VINITY, 1982. - 92 p. (in Russian).
9. Nikolaenko D. Metageography. Works. Volume 1. St-Petersburg, Amadeus, 2002. - 180 p. (in Russian).
10. Nikolaenko D. The dynamics images of the science. Works. Volume 5. St. Petersburg, Amadeus, 2002. - 312 p. (in Russian).
11. Hume D. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2007.
12. Popper KR. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. London: Routledge; 2002.
13. Kuhn TS. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 4th ed. Chicago: Universi-ty of Chicago Press; 2012.
14. Hanson NR. Patterns of Discovery. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1958.
15. Whitehead AN. Process and Reality. New York: Free Press; 1978.
16. Rescher, Nicholas. 1996. Process Metaphysics: An Introduction to Process Philosophy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
17. Thom R. Structural Stability and Morphogenesis. Reading, MA: Benjamin; 1975.
18. Goodwin BC. How the Leopard Changed Its Spots: The Evolution of Com-plexity. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 2001.
19. Prigogine, Ilya, and Isabelle Stengers. 1984. Order Out of Chaos: Man's New Dialogue with Nature. New York: Bantam Books.
20. Haken H. Synergetics: Introduction and Advanced Topics. Berlin: Springer; 2004.
21. DeLanda M. Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy. London: Continuum; 2002.
22. DeLanda M. A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity. London: Continuum; 2006.
