CFP: OccupyThought

#OccupyThought is a theoretical action taken as a part of #OccupyWallStreet—intended to be a political act of theorization rather than a theorization of political action. We welcome scholars and activists to contribute any theoretical writing concerned with the #OWS movement. All submissions will be published online in an open access format, and subject to open peer review from both scholars and activists. Selections will be chosen for one or more edited volumes, to be published in both print and open-access ebook formats.

Submissions of any kind of theoretically-based writing are welcome, including informational writing, interpretive writing, critical and interventionist writing, as well as persuasive writing that attempts to imagine outcomes and next steps, and to appeal to #occupiers to follow one vision or plan rather than another. We hope to see a great diversity of perspectives and assessments, and there is no political litmus test—only a requirement that the intent of the writing be constructive communication both with scholars and with activists. Word count is expected to vary widely, in accordance with the kind of writing submitted, but should be more than 1500 words and less than 8000. Writing from any disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspective is welcome.

Those who have made provisional commitments to take part in the project include Linda Martín Alcoff (Philosophy, Hunter College/CUNY Graduate Center), Wendy Brown (Political Science, UC Berkeley), Jason Eastman (Sociology, Coastal Carolina University), Jairus Grove (Political Science, University of Hawai’i at Manoa), Alexander Halavais (Communications, Quinnipiac University), Dustin Howes (Political Science, LSU), Leigh Johnson (Philosophy, Rhodes College), Nathan Jun (Midwestern State University), Paul M. Livingston (Philosophy, UNM), Nicholas Mirzoeff (Media, Culture, and Communication, NYU), Joel Olson (Politics & International Affairs, Northern Arizona University), Andrew Ross (Social and Cultural Analysis, NYU), Louis-Georges Schwartz (Film Studies, Ohio University), Robert Talisse (Philosophy, Vanderbilt), D.E. Wittkower (Philosophy, Old Dominion University), and Keith Woodward (Geography, University of Wisconson–Madison).

Due to the open-access nature of the project, we will accept concurrent submissions with other projects that also accept concurrent submissions. Tidal (occupytheory.org) and Occupy Philosophy (occupyphil.org) are two notable examples of similar projects that we are glad to share submissions with. If your work is more quantitative than theoretical, you may be more interested in working with Occupy Research (occupyresearch.wikispaces.com). Historians may also wish to work with Occupy History (occupyhistory.us).

For online open peer-review, reviewers will be sought from both academics and #occupiers, based on the belief that this project should be responsive and responsible to standards of both theory and practice. Submissions should be written with both audiences in mind. Submissions are welcome from scholars or from #occupiers, but we are especially interested in submissions from scholars who have been personally involved in #occupations, and from #occupiers with academic backgrounds.

In addition to submissions, we also welcome collaborators who wish to help with peer-review, with communications and publicity, or with any other related project. While immediate needs will concern getting the activists and scholars informed of and involved in the project, expansions of the project are welcome, and may include organizing teach-ins, Kickstarter-funding the purchase of books for #occupations and public libraries, or other related activities of your choosing. We encourage you to get involved and bring your own goals and ideas. We hope that working groups on Direct Action, Education, and Outreach will emerge.

If you’d like to be involved in any way, please sign up to the Google group for the project: http://groups.google.com/group/occupy-thought The group will be the primary location of discussion and planning, and will send out announcements of newly uploaded submissions.

Please also consider “liking” the project on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Thought/279914098727293 The Facebook page will send out relevant news stories and postings, and will also post newly uploaded submissions.

Submissions will be uploaded to The New Everyday for open access and open peer-review: http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/tne/ To submit your writing, create an account with Media Commons and send your exact username to [email protected] with the subject line “#OccupyThought Contributor”. You will be sent further instructions at that time. Formatting details are available on the New Everyday website linked above.

Contributions will be accepted until Feb. 20th.

We hope you will consider submitting, and that you will consider collaborating. If the topic or process sounds interesting or valuable to you, but you will not be able to contribute, please join our Google group and like our Facebook page so that you can stay updated and perhaps help review contributions.