Extended CFP Deadline for the Berkeley Journal of Sociology

Deadline: APRIL 21

The Berkeley Journal of Sociology is seeking submissions for its 2017 print issue (Volume 61). Since its relaunch three years ago, the BJS has put its focus on writing a “history of the present.” Instead of publishing traditional academic research articles, we have featured compelling essays, insightful commentaries, critical analyses, and topical symposiums on the most pressing political and cultural issues of the day. Our aim is to provide critical perspectives from the social sciences on public debates and current events as well as critical reviews of social scientific knowledge. We have a rolling submission system for online articles and a March 15 April 21 deadline for those interested in being published in the print edition.

The BJS is accepting the following kinds of submissions on topical issues or debates:

• research essays: narrative analyses driven by empirical evidence
• commentary: social scientific assessments and critiques of events, journalistic coverage, recent reports, and public discourse.
• conversations: interviews on topical subjects and debates.
• field memos: elaborations of experiences in the field as they relate to contemporary social struggles, political debates, or social-scientific practice
• photo essays: sociological and visual critiques from your research sites
• non-traditional book reviews: essays that use recently published or canonical books as launching pads to discuss broader issues.

To get a sense of the wide range of content we have published, take a look at our current print issue or browse through the archives at berkeleyjournal.org. We are open to submissions on any topic, but we are also seeking submissions that fit into the following two forums:

Refugees and Transnational Migration: crises, responses, trajectories

According to UNHCR, the world is currently amidst the greatest displacement of people since WWII. While images of refugees fleeing war to Europe have dominated recent headlines, the issue extends far beyond any single continent. The global rise of right-wing populism has further raised the stakes involved in ongoing political, policy, and academic debates on refugees and migration, including the events and processes that have created and propelled them. The need to engage in these debates is urgent. The BJS is seeking contributions that critically reflect on current issues and events surrounding refugees and transnational migration patterns from a range of perspectives. Some questions to consider are:

• What kinds of practical, political, and theoretical challenges do practitioners, activists, and academics have to contend with in order to move the debates and responses forward? How can refugees and migrants be incorporated actively into these debates and visions?
• What historical lessons can we draw from previous mass displacements and the responses to them?
• How does the right-wing turn shape the prospects for developing adequate responses to refugees’ and migrants’ needs? What might constitute an ‘adequate’ response and how do we know?
• What role do (and should) leftist social movements play?
• How are recently displaced refugees and migrants interacting with and transforming specific receiving communities’ institutions?

Submissions should be limited to between 1,000-3,000 words.

The Roots and Implications of the Trump Election

The BJS is seeking contributions that critically reflect on the rise of Trump in the political field during the 2016 election in the US and World, including implications for race, class, immigration, gender, politics, culture, media, the economy, and more.

Submissions should be limited to between 1,000-3,000 words.

Completed print submissions are due by March 15 April 21, 2017. If you wish, you may contact us to inquire about specific ideas or proposals before the deadline. Email submissions (and questions about submissions) to submissions@berkeleyjournal.org..

Print submissions should not exceed 4,000 words. Please email articles as MS Word documents (not PDFs), and attach photos as separate JPG files. Relevant sources should be cited in endnotes, not in a separate bibliography. For full submission guidelines, see berkeleyjournal.org/submissions. All submissions will be subject to a review among Berkeley graduate students. Successful submissions will be published under a CC-BY-NC-ND license.

The Berkeley Journal of Sociology is a graduate student-­run journal that has been in publication since 1955. We seek to provide a forum in which to wrestle with questions that extend beyond the internal debates of the academic field. As graduate students, we seek to broaden the interpretive range, imaginative scope, and prospective application of our research to political struggles, emerging cultural trends, and imagination of alternative futures. We are not content to be relegated to the sidelines. The point, after all, is to change the world.

Please circulate. In addition to this Call for Papers, we continue to accept submissions of online-only articles on a rolling basis.