CFP: Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture: "Universality and the Future of Europe."

Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender, and Culture is announcing a new CFP for our next issue: Vol. 19, No. 1-2 (2022): "Universality and the Future of Europe."

In an age in which technology seems (only ostensibly of course) to be almost completely freed from material constraints, in which the vast majority of the world has the capacity to be instantly connected to a whole range of networks, flows, exchanges and forms of communication, it would seem as though the concept of an efficient unity would be possible. Indeed, if we were to believe the ideologues and mouthpieces of capitalist economics, this interconnectivity should and must lead to a perfect calculus of movement, whereby flows of capital and distribution processes are streamlined to perfectly reflect supply and demand curves and meet the needs of global citizens before they even realize what their needs are. On the left as well there is the promise of a universalization, of a liberty which exceeds any social, geographic, cultural or ethnic boundary. Yet, what we increasingly find are greater divisions, deterritorializations and reterritorializations, greater conflicts, anxieties, pandemics, capitalist fixes, migration crises, the pillaging of the earth and seas for resources, restrictions on freedoms, a rise in nationalist tendencies, the dissolution of any boundaries between capital, industry, and state and, as it were, the ever looming possibility of all-out war, along with an increasingly present apocalyptic discourse surrounding the possibility of a WWIII.

Europe, it would seem, far from being unified has become even more divided since Britain's now infamous exit from the Union. Divided, we should say, on at least three fronts. Firstly, it is internally divided, with right-wing and nationalist parties maintaining or even growing in popularity, and, in certain areas, threatening the dissolution of already existing states, which is supported by the right-wingers and populists in the West who (unlike the Visegrad 4) advocate for the exit from, or dissolution of, the Union itself. Secondly, there is a divide between "Old Europe" and "New Europe," and those countries who are and are not in the Union, with the countries on the “periphery” of the continent, especially in Southeast Europe, and what was formerly Yugoslavia, continuously exploited as a cheap labor resource, and treated as inferior to the rest of the continent. Thirdly, as a whole, there is a divide between the “civilized West” and the “barbaric East,” where demonization is more common than cooperation. The question of what is to be done is of course a famous one, but it is crucial now more than ever. Several core questions must therefore be asked. What does it mean to be united as a continent, especially a continent with such rich diversity but also such strong economic disparities between "Old Europe" and "New Europe?" How are we to combat the rise of right-wing and illiberal politics on the continent, without also falling into a mere technocracy? “How are we to reimagine an economy which doesn’t bow to the logic of capital, and allows for equality not only among the wealthier nations but those on the periphery as well?  How can we use technology as a radical tool that benefits all? How can we work together to solve the climate crisis? How, as a whole, can we take steps forward to reconcile differences with what we call the East in order to move towards a global and universal solidarity. And, finally, can the global capitalist war machine be stopped, and through what means - protest and activism or struggle and revolutionary effort, or perhaps another way entirely?

Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender, and Culture is currently seeking well developed, publishable articles, essays and reviews for our newest issue which will focus on all of these questions, as well as many more concerning the future of Europe as such. If you wish to submit an article or review you can do so on our website here: https://identitiesjournal.edu.mk/index.php/IJPGC/about/submissions. Please also make sure to look through the author guidelines carefully to ensure that your submission meets all of the necessary criteria. If you have any questions at all fell free to contact us at [email protected].

Timeline:

- Full submission of Article/Review: June 30, 2022.

- Blind peer-review process: July 01 – September 10, 2022

- Revisions: October 10, 2022

- Publication: November 2022