Call for papers Volume 12 Issue 1 2022

07-09-2021

The Interdisciplinary Journal of International Studies (IJIS) is again open for submissions. The overall theme of the next issue is ‘Crisis’ which will enable previous and current students to display the broad, diverse, and interdisciplinary nature of Global Studies and Social Sciences at Aalborg University. 

For this issue, we would like to turn the focus on current events and ongoing debates and crises.  Alan McConnell (2020) refers to “the politics of crisis” as follows: 

“Crisis is an “umbrella,” under which resides a multitude of terms such as accidents, emergencies, fiascos, disasters, and catastrophes, as well as variations such as natural disasters, transboundary crises, and mega-crises.” 

There have been many scholars who are investigating the concept of ‘crisis’. It has been studied both as an emergency, but also “as a notion, condition and experience [that] refers to and operates at various societal levels” (Bergman-Rosamond et al, 2020). At the same time, scholars like Roitman (2013, 2020) have criticized the use of crisis and connected it with proliferation, power and structural intervention.  

We would like to explore the concept of crisis since although it is a widespread term, it does not have a commonly accepted definition (Acuto, 2011). We acknowledge that the word crisis has a negative connotation and a provoking sound which connects to alarming emergencies. This term has been popularized by the media and is still the expression most often used to refer to current events. The term is also used to refer to so-called crises, such as the 2015 so-called refugee crisis. Since then, the vast majority of stakeholders, including politicians, NGOs, international organizations, journalists and academics have used the expression.

We also acknowledge that positionality plays an important role when investigating crises. As Jensen and Schneidermann (Forthcoming) problematize, “how can we take seriously that what for some appears like a crisis, is hardly relevant to others, when faced with multiple kinds of emergencies at once?” (Jensen and Schneidermann, forthcoming: 4).

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Migration and security
  • Climate change 
  • Migrations as ‘crises’
  • Migration policies
  • Conflicts
  • Aid and policy
  • Health
  • Solutions and Innovations
  • Governing during and after crisis
  • Gender and crisis

As Bergman-Rosamond et al (2020) suggest we need to explore crisis from an interdisciplinary point of view, taking into account issues like precarity, positionality, gender and intersectionality. Therefore the purpose of this issue is to analyse and discuss the many different current crises shaping the world today, as well as leaving room for criticizing and engaging with the concept in itself.

References:

Acuto M. (2011) ‘Diplomats in Crisis’, Diplomacy & Statecraft, 22:3, 521-539, DOI: 10.1080/09592296.2011.599661

Bergman-Rosamond, A., Gammeltoft-Hansen, T., Hamza, M., Hearn, J., Ramasar, V. and Rydstrom, H. (2020) ‘The case for Interdisciplinary Crisis Studies’, Global Discourse, vol xx, no xx, 1–22, DOI: 10.1332/204378920X15802967811683

Jensen St. and Schneidermann N. (Forthcoming) ‘Surviving in Overcome Heights: Living in and alongside crisis in Cape Town’ 

’McConnell, A.  (2020) ‘The Politics of Crisis Terminology’. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. In: https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-1590.

Roitman, J. (2013) Anti-crisis. Durham: Duke University Press.

Roitman, J., Angeli Aguiton, S., Cornilleau, L., & Cabane, L. (2020) ‘Anti-Crisis: thinking with and against crisis excerpt from interview with Janet Roitman’, Journal of Cultural Economy, 1-7.

 

 

 

We encourage current master students and graduates of the Department of Politics and Society at Aalborg University to submit articles or essays. This is an excellent opportunity to publish your research and contribute to the aim of making students visible in the larger academic debates.

About the Journal

The Interdisciplinary Journal of International Studies (IJIS)  is an academic space where students critically engage with theories and issue areas in the social sciences and humanities in an interdisciplinary perspective. Every Issue invites contributions on topical themes (including, but not restricted to, development, globalization, international relations, political economy, regional integration, refugeehood, migration, culture, and history). It welcomes theoretical, methodological, conceptual, or empirical papers.

The IJIS is an independent student-driven and faculty-referred academic journal based at Aalborg University, Denmark. It was established in 2002 on the initiative of the Study Board of Master Programmes in Development & International Relations (DIR) and European Studies (ES). Presently, the journal is supported by the Study Board for International Affairs under the Department of Politics and Society.

Submission

The deadline for expression of interest to the current issue is the 10th of October 2021 and is to be submitted by mail to Ariadni Zormpa aszo@dps.aau.dk or/and Maria Sierro Fernandez masife@dps.aau.dk .

Please send us your affiliation with the Department and a first abstract. 

The full submission of the articles (maximum length 4,000 words) or essays (maximum length 2,500 words) is expected on the 15th of November 2021. Submissions to the IJIS are subject to a peer-review process to ensure that papers for publications have original or sufficient contribution to scholarship. Each submitted manuscript is evaluated on the following basis:

  • the originality and relevance of its contribution to the field 
  • the soundness of its theory and methodology given the topic
  • the coherence of its analysis
  • its ability to communicate to readers (grammar and style)

 We expect to publish the next Issue of IJIS by February 2022.

Reviews

We also strongly encourage students to submit reviews of relevant literature, e.g. of books, articles, journals, or other academically relevant knowledge production (podcasts, magazines, social media communities etc.) that you believe should come to the attention of other students. The reviews will not be subjected to the standard peer-review process, and all reviews will be published in the online edition.

Submit a maximum of 500 words, clear reference, theme, authors and department affiliation.

We look forward to receiving many great contributions to this ‘Crisis’ edition and hope you will engage in this student initiative.

For more information, visit our online journal at https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/ijis/index or contact the principal  journal editors Ariadni Zormpa aszo@dps.aau.dk, Maria Sierro Fernandez masife@dps.aau.dk and/or Kristian Jensen kjens20@student.aau.dk .