From the FLP mailbox:
The editors of The National Political Science Review (NPSR) invite submissions from the scholarly community for review and possible publication for a Special Issue on:
BLACK WOMEN IN POLITICS: MOVING FORWARD — NEW QUESTIONS, NEW DIRECTIONS
A recent study, appearing in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, suggests that Black women are often rendered invisible in the social sphere. This study brings to light what we might already know via anecdotal evidence. However, it leaves us wondering how do we study Black women? When Black women are the subjects of the research, must they always be compared to other racial/ethnic groups? Which methodologies and methods are better suited for unearthing and explaining Black women’s experiences as political and social actors? And, finally what new knowledges are produced when interdisciplinary approaches and unconventional methodologies and methods are employed?
In addressing these questions, this special issue seeks to interact with and advance the continuum of Black women’s studies with a special focus on Black women and politics. The editors are soliciting articles for a themed issue of the National Political Science Review (NPSR) to be published in 2014. This special edition will be devoted to (1) questions of epistemology and the politics of knowledge production; and (2) the lives and lived realities of Black women–their cultures and politics, their representations in media, their involvement in new media, and their activism. We invite research length papers on Black women in politics and Black gender politics from a wide range of disciplines including Black women’s studies, political science, religion, Black Studies, sociology, Women’s Studies, and philosophy among others. Papers may take any theoretical and or methodological perspective that centers Black women’s political phenomena — broadly defined. All submissions should be written in a manner that is accessible to a wide scholarly audience. Papers should be no longer than 25 pages, inclusive of notes and references, and should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition). We especially encourage papers that employ not only quantitative, but also qualitative and interpretive methodologies, which analyze and explain the triumphs and challenges faced by Black women domestically and globally. Particular attention will be given to the ways in which feminist and womanist scholars have challenged disciplinary conventions in producing transformative, interdisciplinary knowledge. Articles may be inspired by, but are certainly not limited to, the following themes:
* Black women and reproductive justice
* Black women’s response to nation states, colonialism and neo-colonialism
* Black women’s contemporary social and political activism
* Black women’s experience with and negotiation of the criminal justice system
* Black women and the politics of representation: sexuality, media, and/or texts
* Black women’s informal political participation in movements and organizations
* The politics of knowledge production
* Transformational approaches to intersectionality scholarship
* Black women in international relations and comparative politics
* Black women in politics, new social media, and virtual social networks
The NPSR is a refereed journal of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. Its editions appear annually and comprise the highest quality scholarship related to the experiences of African Americans in the American political community, as well as in the wider reach of the African Diaspora in the Western Hemisphere. It also focuses on the international links between African Americans and the larger community of nations, particularly with Africa.
Please email submissions and cover letter, no later than October 1, 2012, to: Dr. Nikol G. Alexander-Floyd at ngaf@rci.rutgers.edu AND Dr. Julia Jordan-Zachery at jjordanz@providence.edu.
-Bridget Crawford
