CFP: Encounters with Sara Ahmed

Call For Proposals: Encounters with Sara Ahmed

Sara Ahmed has had, and continues to have, profound and far-reaching influence inside and outside the academy and across disciplines, including philosophy, feminist theory, queer theory, women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, and others, and yet there is no volume, as of yet, dedicated to gathering scholarship that demonstrates or addresses her impact. In Ahmed’s view, “citation is feminist memory” — it is a project invested in assembling archives that “acknowledge our debt to those who came before; those who helped us find our way when the way was obscured because we deviated from the paths we were told to follow” (Ahmed, Living a Feminist Life,15).

In keeping with Ahmed’s commitment to building and preserving feminist memory and citational pathways, we invite proposals for contributions to the first ever volume dedicated to gathering scholarship on the work of Sara Ahmed, tentatively titled Encounters with Sara Ahmed. We are seeking submissions across a broad range of disciplines and lived experiences, and we invite contributions that engage any aspect of Ahmed’s thought. We are also very grateful that Sara Ahmed herself has agreed to offer a contribution to this volume. 

We invite proposals for contributions that take on one of the two following formats:

Format 1: Traditional essay-style book chapters of no more than 10k words (excluding notes and references). Given the interdisciplinary scope of this volume, these essays should be written such that scholars from a wide array of disciplines can understand and engage them, avoiding jargon when possible, while maintaining a high standard for original, rigorous scholarship. Contributions may engage any aspect or aspects of Ahmed’s thought.

Proposals for this format should include (1) extended abstracts of 700-1000 words, exclusive of references, prepared for anonymous review and (2) a separate document with a brief author bio(s) (approx. 100 words). 

Format 2: Briefer, blog-style, or other creative submissions of approximately 3,000 to 4,000 words long (excluding notes and references) that mirror Ahmed’s commitment to public scholarship and queering academic conventions. We envision these submissions to be more rooted in lived experience and less rigid and formalistic in style than typical academic writing. These submissions should be directed toward a non-specialist audience, avoiding scholarly jargon when possible. Contributions may engage any aspect or aspects of Ahmed’s thought.

Proposals for this format should include (1) abstracts of 350-500 words, exclusive of references, prepared for anonymous review and (2) a separate author bio(s) document. Authors may wish to retain some identifying information due to the potentially personal nature of this format; we recommend that authors redact directly identifying information such as names, when possible. 

Both types of submissions should clearly indicate which format they are proposing in the heading of the document. Submissions may originate from single authors or multiple collaborators/co-authors. Please email all submissions to [email protected] by November 1st, 2024. You may direct any questions or other inquiries to [email protected], addressed to Claire Lockard and Rachel Silverbloom.

Upon final selection of contributions, the volume editors will submit a formal proposal to Palgrave Macmillan. Upon final approval from the publisher (expected turnaround is approximately eight weeks upon submission), contributors will have approximately one year to submit full manuscripts.