Extended Submissions: Black feminist poetics situates the political thought
EXTENDED SUBMISSIONS: August 31, 2021
Black feminist poetics situates the political thought: raciality, total violence, and universality
In 1950, the poet, essayist and activist Aimé Césaire stated that it is not possible to think about fascism without taking colonization into account. In 1956, the psychiatrist and revolutionary Frantz Fanon pointed out that racism, far from being a mere remnant of the past, or simply a “disposition of mind” on the part of certain individuals, is constitutive of modern societies. Inspired by such engaged intellectuals and by the work of the philosopher and artist Denise Ferreira da Silva, the proposed dossier aims at investigating, in terms of both form and content, the broader implications for political theorizing if we seriously consider the problem of genocidal violence imposed on non-white bodies and territories in the global present, characterized by colonial structures in political, economic, and symbolic terms.
“Why the death of young black persons at the hands of state agents does not cause a global ethical crisis?”, asks Ferreira da Silva. In order to attend to this question, she argues that, in analytical terms, it is necessary to go beyond moral appeals or even an inclusive perspective. Although the latter is necessary, the author states that, even if non-white people acquire rights, these collapse every time the state uses its self-preservation forces. Towards the “end of the world as we know it,” and with Black Feminist Poethics — a radical praxis elaborated by Ferreira da Silva —, we seek to draw attention to raciality as the very producer of universality, which underlies texts, bodies, territories, and institutions. We understand, therefore, that no political analysis should leave out the question of raciality and the theft of native lands.
This dossier welcomes papers that, informed by the violent reality imposed by racism, colonialism, and sexism, contribute (i) to think critically about the onto-epistemological basis of modern political thought, and (ii) to foster the imaging of the political in terms that do not coincide with the expansion of the nation-state. Aiming at the denaturalization of genocidal violence, we encourage works that seek to highlight the racial and the colonial aspects of texts that are central to modern Western political thought, and to Brazilian and Latin American political thought, which were written during colonization and the advent of nation-states. We also welcome texts that present the contribution of systematically erased authors in order to (re)think the political thought. Finally, this issue is open to other narratives as well — the ones that, against, before, and beyond total violence, (re)think the political existence, and critically reflect on the relationship between form and content in political theorizing.
Submissions will be accepted until August 31, 2021 through Leviathan Journal’s online system. In addition to the public call, the dossier will gather invited contributions, interviews with prominent scholars in the field, translations, and compositions in various formats.
To access the Journal’s submission guidelines: Diretrizes para autoras
To access the Journal’s evaluation flow guide: Fluxo Editorial Leviathan
Organizers: Nathália Carneiro e Léa Tosold
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