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Call for Entries: Global Crises and Emerging Solidarities

A Different View: The IAPSS Academic Blog invites you to explore its latest Call for Entries on the theme ‘Global Crises and Emerging Solidarities‘. This initiative highlights pressing global challenges and fosters dialogue on resistance, resilience, and solidarity through critical, intersectional, and forward-looking perspectives. Dive into the full details and guidelines by reading full document: Call for Entries_ Global Crises and Emerging Solidarities _ ADV CfA 2024.

As we approach the end of 2024, we are reminded of the profound crises that define our times. Across geographies, people, livelihoods, and the planet itself are entrenched in precarity. The echoes of violence and dispossession reverberate globally, leaving scars on communities and ecosystems alike. The genocide in Palestine have persisted for over a year, defying global conscience, while the massacres in Congo and Sudan serve as haunting reminders of unchecked human cruelty and manufactured ignorance. Yet, amidst this darkness, a resolute spirit of resistance endures. The indomitable spirit of those resisting oppression, colonialism, occupation, and the insatiable greed of capitalist accumulation embodies the transformative potential to reimagine political, economic, and social systems. Their struggle not only confronts injustice but also calls for a critical interrogation of entrenched power structures, including colonial legacies, political participation, capitalist accumulation and the media and digital infrastructures that perpetuate inequities. In these times of global turmoil, resistance demands an examination of agency and identity while grappling with intersecting crises such as climate change, digital surveillance, pandemics, and systemic corruption. This enduring fight for justice underscores the necessity of collective action and solidarity to challenge undemocratic processes and envision a more equitable future.

We believe in the transformative power of mobilising, organising, and fostering solidarity. Through South feminist and intersectional frameworks, along with decolonising approaches that advocate for radical thinking and amplify the voices of marginalised and colonised communities, provide powerful tools for dismantling entrenched systems of power, knowledge, and culture. Grounded in lived experiences, critical race theory, standpoint theory, and other transformative paradigms, these frameworks foster knowledge-sharing, dialogue, and collective action, enabling the reimagining of futures rooted in liberation, dignity, and self-determination. It is in this spirit of connection and resistance that we issue a call to reimagine solidarities that transcend borders and divisions.

This year has been marked by political and social upheavals across the globe. In France, the government faced a no-confidence motion after bypassing parliamentary approval to pass the 2025 budget, triggering political instability. Georgia witnessed pro-EU protests intensifying after the government’s decision to delay accession talks until 2028, leading to violent confrontations. In Serbia, where university students rose against government corruption after a tragic train station roof collapse, symbolising the discontent of a generation. South Korea faced democratic backsliding as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration sparked mass protests. Mozambique grappled with insurgent violence and contested elections, displacing thousands and deepening unrest.

In Palestine, the ongoing occupation and escalating violence have caused incalculable human suffering, while Yemen continues to endure one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Libya remains entangled in division and strife, its political future in turmoil. Sri Lanka, struggling to recover from economic collapse, faces public dissent against corruption and austerity. Similarly, Bangladesh’s recent political unrest leading to removal of Sheikh Hasina brought about a change of power structure (regime) in the nation. Hong Kong remains under intensified state control, its democracy silenced by authoritarian crackdowns. In Myanmar, the civil war has devastated millions, with the junta now facing resistance forces united in their defiance. Afghanistan, under the rule of the Taliban, is witnessing massive human rights violations and political upheaval exacerbating its already volatile economic and political temperature of the nation.

These events underscore the profound interconnectedness of global crises. In the face of violence, authoritarianism, and ecological degradation, the need for solidarities that bridge borders, identities, and systems of oppression has never been more urgent. How do we channel collective grief and rage into transformative action? What does solidarity look like in a fractured world, and how can it inspire hope, justice, and liberation? How can we effectively shed the light on completing narratives that have been constructed to distort and demean the people involved in these situations? What sort of role does truth telling play in implementing and fostering a genuine understanding of collective action? Or How might the act of collective and individual memory shape our responses towards crises, challenges towards operations, and how from this remembrance can a foundation be built that honours the past and strives for a more just future?

We invite students (across all university levels), postgraduate researchers, activists, and practitioners to contribute articles that critically examine the following themes (not limited too):

  • Transnational Solidarities: Analyses of how global networks respond to regional or local crises, fostering collective action and support across borders.
  • Resistance, Resilience and Memory: Case studies of communities employing innovative strategies to resist oppression and rebuild amidst instability. Reflections on first-hand accounts of crisis experiences and the ways storytelling, along with historical and collective trauma, can cultivate healing and solidarity in the wake of violence.
  • Role of Ethics and Morality: Explorations of how ethical frameworks and moral imperatives guide actions toward restoring justice and human dignity.
  • Critical Perspectives on Humanitarianism: Evaluations of the effectiveness and challenges of humanitarian interventions in conflict zones.
  • Media Narratives and Framing: Critical perspectives on media’s representations and the way they shape transnational solidarities.

Submissions should provide critical, intersectional, and forward-looking perspectives, drawing on empirical case studies, theoretical frameworks, or interdisciplinary approaches. We encourage pieces that inspire dialogue on navigating towards a more just and humane world.

  • Submission Guidelines
  • Word Limit: 1200–1500 words (excluding bibliography and footnotes/endnotes). For lengthier pieces, please contact the editorial team in advance.
  • Deadline: 15 February 2025 (Saturday) | 12:30 Pm GMT (rolling submissions and publications)
    Format: Writing pieces should be submitted in MS Word format, with in-text citations and references in APA 7th edition.

We accept a range of writing formats from Blogs; to Academic articles; to Review pieces; Life narrative essays; and Abridged writing pieces; Knowledge resource archive writing pieces.

Please send submissions and inquiries to adifferentview@iapss.org by 15 February 2025 (Saturday) | 12:30 Pm GMT.

For any queries and question please contact academic@iapss.org and research@iapss.org

Let us envision a world where solidarity transforms despair into action, resistance and liberation, and fractured communities into a collective force for justice. Together, we can build bridges across divides, anchoring ourselves in shared humanity and unwavering hope.

References

Al Jazeera News Agencies. (2024, December 24). At least 21 killed in Mozambique unrest after top court’s election decision. Al Jazeera.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/24/at-least-21-killed-in-mozambique-unrest-after-top-courts-election-decision

Center for Preventive Action. (2021, October 19). Instability in Afghanistan. Council on Foreign Relations – Global Conflict Tracker https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-afghanistan

Center for Preventive Action. (2023, January 6). Civil conflict in Libya. Council on Foreign Relations – Global Conflict Tracker https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/civil-war-libya

Haddad, M. (2022, February 9). Yemen’s war explained in maps and charts. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/9/yemens-war-explained-in-maps-and-charts-interactive

Koh, E. (2024, November). How Myanmar’s civil war Could Actually End. TIME. https://time.com/7160736/myanmar-coup-civil-war-conflict-timeline-endgame-explainer/

Lawal, S. (2024, February 21). A guide to the decades-long conflict in DR Congo. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/21/a-guide-to-the-decades-long-conflict-in-dr-congo

Schofield, H. (2024, December 2). France faces months of political instability as government nears collapse. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y780j8e2xo

Shamim, S. (2024, December 3). Georgia protests: What’s behind them and what’s next? Al Jazeera. website:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/3/georgia-protests-whats-behind-them-and-whats-next

Shin, G.-W. (2024). What happened to South Korea’s democracy? Journal of Democracy https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclusive/what-happened-to-south-koreas-democracy/

Walsh, D. (2024, August 15). A catastrophic civil war in Sudan. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/15/briefing/sudan-civil-war.html

Weerakoon, D. (2023, January 8). Sri Lanka’s hard road to recovery from economic and political crisis. East Asia Forum. https://eastasiaforum.org/2023/01/08/sri-lankas-hard-road-to-recovery-from-economic-and-political-cris
is/

Wong, T., Tsoi, G., Wong, V., & Chang, J. (2024, November 30). Hong Kong: A decade of protest is now a defiant memory. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c888jnvq4x4o

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