31st July 2013 [download as pdf]
Publication
Maiden Issue of the Journal of Critical Southern Studies
It has been little more than 4 months since Dr. Momodou Sallah sent out the inaugural call for papers for the Journal of Critical Southern Studies following the conference Questioning the logic of the System. In that short time, we have continued and built upon that momentum to publish the maiden issue of that the JCSS, dedicated to the promotion of critical southern studies in the northern academy and beyond. In the editorial of this maiden issue, editor Dr. Baba Jallow invites us
to join and support us in giving voice to scholars and views that have for so long been almost drowned by the roaring of hegemonic northern voices. We feel that privileging what are generally considered the views of the underdog is vital to promoting counter-hegemonic discourses on globalization, political theory, gender, and cultures among many other areas of scholarly enquiry and human endeavor.
Despite the challenges then outlined by Baba for any project such as the JCSS, we join him in our
determination to raise the profile and quality of the JCSS to the highest possible standards in the world of academic publishing’. This is a first step.
The journal is consciously published free and online to maximise global access. The maiden issue can be downloaded here.
30th June 2013 [download as pdf]
Call for Papers
Journal of Critical Southern Studies, second issue
The Journal of Critical Southern Studies is a new multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to scholarship from and about The Global South, broadly defined. The JCSS welcomes submissions on all aspects of southern studies. Subjects might include, but are not limited to: reflections on the configuration of global systems, investigations of institutions of power, studies of the environment and the south, literary analyses outside the canon, examinations of South-South exchanges in gender studies, religion and theology, or examinations of South–South exchanges in all their various manifestations. The JCSS is currently accepting manuscripts for its second issue. Manuscripts need not address the subjects listed above but should deal, in a substantive way, with issues concerning the Global South. The journal will also consider book reviews, research notes, and briefings as specified in the submission guidelines. Dedicated to the promotion of inter-disciplinary, cross-regional Global South studies, the JCSS is published twice a year, in July and January. The journal only considers original, unpublished manuscripts of high scholarly quality not under review by other journals. Manuscripts should be 8,000 to 12,000 words in length, and include an abstract of 50-100 words. References and citations as well as general manuscript format should conform to our submission guidelines at https://jcss.our.dmu.ac.uk. The deadline for submission of manuscripts is September 15, 2013. The second issue is scheduled to come out on January 31, 2014. Please send all manuscripts with “Manuscript Submission” in the subject line to: JCSS@global-hands.co.uk.
Call for Papers
Journal of Critical Southern Studies
Questioning the Logic of the System: Positioning Southern Perspectives
Research on, and perspectives from, the Global South are increasingly captured in mainstream literature. But such representations often tend to be skewed towards mainstream narratives. Often, where research methodologies and findings depart from the mainstream, probabilities of publication – or even passing mention in bibliographic references – are significantly reduced. Of course what this has done is to subdue and marginalise voices and perspectives from the South. But there are more disempowering aspects to the suppression of Southern voices. The dominance of particular thinking, especially the kind that validates perspectives from mainstream scholarship, implies that voices from the Global South stand little chance of being heard. The downside to this – one that has been lamented over many years – seems that what is reflected in mainstream publications is sometimes seen as representing the universal. Yet the universal is often neither representative of, nor in sync with, voices, perspectives and interests of the Global South. In Africa and elsewhere, Northern ideological dominance continues to consolidate marginalisation and disenfranchisement. Although there have been attempts to rectify this with the emergence of Third World-specific journals and research agenda, the impact has been largely minimal. This is because as Peter Mason notes, writing about ‘otherness’ is still pretty much writing otherwise. There is, therefore, need for alternative research and publication outlets whose particular focus could help the scoping of gaps in modern research. Doing so would bring to the frontline, what Boaventura de Sousa Santos calls ‘epistemology of the South.’ The Journal of Critical Southern Studies was recently founded as part of efforts to provide an authentic outlet for the promotion and representation of ‘otherness’ through the lenses of Southern voices. Its departure point is the understanding that ‘throughout the world there are practical alternatives to the current status quo of which, however, we rarely take notice, simply because such alternatives are not visible or credible to our ways of thinking.’ Part of the inability to ‘rarely take notice’ has been the fact that the Global South remains ‘constituted as an intrinsically disqualified being.’ And so long as this continues, there will be dominance and suppression, the result of which would expand and consolidate what Upendra Baxi calls ‘geographies of injustices.’ The call for papers forms the basis for the maiden issue of the Journal of Critical Southern Studies. Under the theme – Questioning the Logic of the System: Positioning Southern Perspectives – the maiden issue aims to provoke thoughts and tease out reflections on the configuration of global systems, knowledge production and institutions of power. The need for so doing is necessitated by the scope of the devastating faultlines that underpin the system. Whilst there are many possible means of exposing and questioning the logic of the system, it is fundamental that any such attempt requires a reconfiguration of our ways of knowing and being. Papers for this maiden issue would engage these and other related themes. The Journal of Critical Southern Studies is open to and encourages interdisciplinarity. Submission: Authors wishing to be part of the maiden issue should send abstracts of not more than 250 words to jcss@global-hands.co.k on or before March 25th, 2013. All abstracts must be accompanied by a brief biographical note with contact details of the author. The maiden issue will be published in July 2013.