The concept of utopia continues to fascinate scholars from a wide range of disciplines. Utopia can broadly be defined as 'some variation on an ideal present, an ideal past and an ideal future, and the relation between the three', as suggested by historian Gregory Claeys (2020, 13). He also calls attention to the complex intermingling of utopia and dystopia that took root in the 20th century, 'the epoch defined by conflict involving all great powers' (6). Three decades after the end of the Soviet Union, the world is still grappling with the aftermath of what used to be a dream of an egalitarian future, powered by the promise of scientific and technological progress. The alternative has yet to deliver on the promised visions, as it comes under harsh criticism from politicians and public alike. Could the problems of today, from military conflicts to ecological crises, be a sign that the established society is still haunted by those utopian visions of the future that never materialised?
The promise of unlimited prosperity and peace for all humanity brought by liberation movements and technological progress is overshadowed by persistent threats of totalitarianism and the proliferation of surveillance technologies. Moreover, anthropogenic climate change brought on by once-lauded scientific and industrial advances is rapidly becoming an existential threat. The personal and collective traumas brought about by the architects of all kinds of utopias call for a 'haunted imaginary': an exploratory liminal space that belongs neither to the past nor to the future, but draws upon speculative visions and historic events. In this issue of Junctions we would like to offer such a space to our contributors.
We invite graduate and postgraduate students of the Humanities to contribute to the upcoming issue of Junctions, titled: ‘Haunting Utopias’.
The submission length for original journal articles is 4000–6000 words, and 1000–2000 words for book reviews. A separate call for book reviews will be published shortly. Submissions should engage with the scholarly literature of the appropriate discipline and clearly identify its contribution to the field(s). Manuscripts should be in Chicago author-date referencing style and follow the official Junctions template, which can be found on the author guidelines page. Please submit a digital copy (as a Word document) via the submission system on our website by 23 January 2023. Please omit references to the author in manuscripts to ensure anonymous reviews. After double-blind reviewing, accepted articles will undergo a revision process which will conclude with the publication of the journal issue. The journal does not accept manuscripts previously published by or simultaneously submitted to other publications.
For more informal questions, you can reach out to Junctions on social media at: @junctionsuu on Instagram and Twitter, or find us on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Download the full call for papers here!
Posted on 23 Nov 2022
Posted on 04 Apr 2022
Posted on 08 Nov 2021