Call for Papers: Kalfou at the Crossroads
Submission Deadline for Short Reflections: October 15, 2023
Kalfou finds itself at the crossroads.
Neoliberal policies and colonial forms of governance struggle to exert dominance over how we live and think.
Neoliberalism and coloniality pursue a shared path in the repression of liberation movements and epistemologies, in the militarized violence against water and forest protectors, in the legitimation of evangelical definitions of gender and morality, and in the pursuit of limitless labor exploitation through artificial intelligence.
And yet the crossroads are also a place where we find ourselves and each other.
As a journal committed to generating new research and knowledge in reciprocal relations to aggrieved populations who are eyewitnesses to the effects of dominant social structures, our namesake reminds us that important lessons are learned and decisions made at such critical junctions. Kalfou has the expressed goal of examining the roles played by the state, capital, social structures, and social movements in promoting or suppressing social justice. Our analyses emerge from and serve to improve the practices undertaken in the various struggles for liberation and decolonization. Kalfou is also a gathering space for collaboration between academic researchers, community organizations, and insurgent artistry. The crossroads are a site for dreaming together about what a better world might look like and taking action to make that better world a reality.
At these crossroads, Kalfou is specifically seeking SHORT salvos (500–5,000 words) to serve as idea incubators for these times.
Without being exhaustive, some questions to consider may be: What are you thinking about right now? What has captured your attention or concern? In what language and/or through what mediums are you seeking expression? For what are you seeking language and/or new forms of representation? Who are you talking to and/or with whom do you long to converse? What stands in the way of the transformations you seek?
Please see also the journal’s sections:
• “Featured Articles” – Essay submissions responding to any aspect or theme from the current CFP
• “Keywords” – Discussions of phrases, terms, and concepts that emerge from activism
• “La mesa popular” – Reports from the field about ongoing activism
• “Art and Social Action” – Analyses of worlds of expressive culture that function as repositories of collective memory, sites of moral instruction, and mechanisms for calling communities into being through performance
• “Mobilized 4 Movement” – Reflections on social movements and how their participants see themselves and their work
• “Teaching and Truth” – First-person testimony from classroom teachers
• “In Memoriam” – Acknowledgement of and tribute to the work of departed comrades and colleagues.
Questions? Contact us at submissions@kalfou.ucsb.edu
