Reimagining the Future – Utopian Perspectives
deadline for submissions:
January 31, 2017
full name / name of organization:
ANTAE
contact email:
antaejournal@gmail.com
Call for Papers
Reimagining the Future: Utopian Perspectives
The postgraduate journal antae is pleased to announce a special issue around the idea of alternative futures, in particular ones that can be described as “utopian”. This issue shall be published in conjunction with the Institute of Utopian Studies—for the time being, a utopian institution seeking to provide a platform for debate on ideas of radical social change and alternative concepts of living together, which aims to facilitate debate about departures from hegemonic ‘realism’: alternative futures, alternative spaces.
As such, artists, scholars, writers and activists are here encouraged to submit contributions engaging with utopia as a concept for socio-political change: utopian approaches to current political issues, visions of new public spheres, and imaginative projections of different realities. This shall not only be limited to participants of the ‘Away Day’ (happening on November, 2016, at the University of Malta), but also to any other postgraduate students or established academics interested in the multifaceted idea of utopia/s.
The notion of ‘utopian perspectives’ emphasises that constructions of utopian states, since More’s Utopia, have provided ideal models through which one can scrutinise existing socio-political realities. In this sense, utopia is not an absolute aim, but a platform for debate, for exploring alternatives. Utopian perspectives offer different viewpoints with regards to current social realities: (i) they help to sharpen a critical view of the present status quo and its hegemonic discourses; and (ii) they serve to highlight seeds of alternative existing options, spaces and practices, utopian potentials in the present. These two perspectives can also be linked; for example, when basic principles of democracy are interpreted as unfulfilled utopian ideas in present societies (ii), which highlights existing inequalities and exclusions (i).
In light of the above, the editors of antae welcome submissions on or around re-imagined utopias. All issues are open-access and employ a three-tier peer-review process. The authorial guidelines can be viewed here, and the deadline for submissions to antaejournal@gmail.com is the 31st of January, 2017. Submissions should be in the form of finalised papers of around 5,000 to 7,000 words. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
– Utopian Communities
– Utopian Perspectives on Socio-Political and Environmental Issues
– Utopian Political Publics
– Utopia Without Borders – Beyond the Nation State
– Urban Utopias
– Futures Studies
– Technological Utopias, Science Fiction
– Radical Education, Radical Emancipation – towards a Utopian Revolution
– Freedom and Utopia – Freedom as a (Collective) Praxis?
– Utopia as an Imposition or a Liberation?
– Utopia and Work, Utopia and Idleness
– After Capitalism
– Utopian Cultures
– Utopia and (Public) Happiness
– Gender, Sexuality and Love in Utopian Perspectives
– Utopian Bodies, Subjects, Individuals Creating and Living (in) Utopia
– Utopia and the Good Life?
– Beyond Reality
For more information about the journal, or to view previous issues, visit us at www.antaejournal.com; for further information about the Institute of Utopian Studies, visit our social media page here. In case of queries, please do not hesitate to email us on antaejournal@gmail.com.