Call for papers – CONFIGURATIONS JOURNAL Special issue on Disobedient Paths. The ‘South’ in the Portuguese Research

This issue seeks to compile a set of self-reflexive readings of the contexts of Portuguese research in the social sciences and humanities. Essays should take into account Portugal’s ambiguous position between its colonial past and its European present – in particular, its semi-peripheral position as simultaneously a subject and a bearer of western hegemonic thought. Thus, without denying that Southern Europe is itself a mirror subordinated to the world of the Global North, we intend to examine how research agents investigate and problematize the endogenous Global South, –which has traditionally been translated as a metaphor of human oblivion, cultural devaluation, silencing and subordination. Centered in the Portuguese contemporary context–a context marked by contradictions and hesitant identities- this special issue aims to bring together reflections that embrace the complexity and multiplicity of voices that accompany the practice of social science research on issues of postcoloniality. Additionally, we intend to identify and to evaluate specific theoretical and methodological challenges faced by researchers because of constraints placed by Portuguese society upon the recognition of this ‘South.’ We shall ask how the results of Portuguese research can be perceived as an emancipatory knowledge and as a facilitator of important contributions – enriching Portuguese studies.

This special issue seeks to bring together a set of articles grounded in different theoretical and methodological perspectives, that can reveal the modes of production of other knowledges and other insights and show how they are as legitimate, valid and valuable as the hegemonic western knowledge. Possible focuses include the following topics:

( i ) the epistemologies of the ‘South’ : contexts, problems and methodologies;
(ii) the ‘South’ as an emancipatory knowledge;
( iii ) literary and poetic disobedience. Challenging the hegemony of western narrative;
( iv ) Thinking the ‘South’ in the context of Portuguese research: case studies;
(v ) The ‘South’ in the Portuguese postcolonial debate;

Deadline:
Articles should arrive no later than March 1st 2013, care of Ângela Matos, to the address cics@ics.uminho.pt

Instructions for authors:
All articles will undergo a preliminary selection process conducted by the Editorial Board to ensure their pertinence regarding the thematic scope of this special issue. Selected articles will subsequently be submitted to the blind refereeing of two experts.
All texts must conform to the following norms:
1. All texts must provide the identification of their autor(s), their institutional affiliation(s) and e-mail(s).
2. Texts must not exceed, overall and except for abstracts, 35.000 characters, including spaces.
3. Each article must be accompanied by two abstracts (in Portuguese, English and French) with maximum length of 750 characters (including spaces) each. The abstract in Portuguese will be part of the main file (article); other abstracts must be sent in an autonomous file.
4. All files, in Word format, must be sent through electronic mail.
5. All quotations must be translated.
6. All originals must:
a) Contain the final, ready to print version of the text, duly revised;
b) Include a title;
c) Contain 4 or 5 keywords, following the abstract, and in the three previously specified languages.

7. In text composition and formatting, authors should abide by the following guidelines:
a) Using no more than two titling levels; Introduction and Conclusion are not numbered; the rest of the text with Arabic numbering;
b) Quotations will be bracketed with inverted commas as long as they do not exceed four lines; longer quotation will constitute autonomous paragraph(s), with no quotation marks;
c) Terms in other languages will be written in italic;
d) Non-textual elements must be presented in tables, charts or figures, with autonomous Arabic numbering;
e) Footnotes will be numbered, no brackets;
f) Bibliographic references will obey the following model: (Rodrigues, 1993: 103); (Costa & Almeida, 1991: 80-84); (Greenwood, 1997a); (Greenwood, 1997b);
g) Bibliography at the end of the article will be presented as follows:
- SURNAME, Name (year), Title of the book, place of publication, publisher.
- SURNAME, Name (year), “Title of the article”, Title of the journal, volume (number), number of first and last pages.
- SURNAME, Name (year), “Title of the article/ chapter”, in Name and Surname of the editor(s) (eds.), Title of the collective book, place of publication, publisher, number of first and last pages.
- Internet Document: SURNAME, Name (year), Title of the document [Online], available at: address [access: date].
- Internet sites and personal or institutional pages: Name [Online], available at: address [access: date].
- Articles in online journals: SURNAME, Name (year), “Title of the article”, Title of the Journal, volume (number), number of first and last pages [Online], available at: address [access: date].

By admin in News on 08/01/2014