[H-PAD] Racial Justice and Peace History: Is it “Different” This Time?

[Marc Becker]

*Call for Contributions
Racial Justice and Peace History: Is it “Different” This Time?
A Proposed Special Issue of /Peace & Change/
Robbie Lieberman, Editor
*

John Lewis and C.T. Vivian, two icons of the racial justice movement 
known for their courageous nonviolent challenges to segregation and 
inequality, died in Atlanta on June 17, 2020. They were laid to rest 
amid a storm of rising COVID-19 case numbers and deaths 
disproportionately affecting communities of color; of widespread, 
persistent protests against police murders of Black people; of federal 
Homeland Security agents descending on Portland, Oregon, and other 
cities to confront peaceful protesters and whisk some away in unmarked 
vans; and of rising concerns about voter disenfranchisement for the 
November election. The recent killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, 
and Breonna Taylor, among others, along with the record-breaking 
protests have led many organizations to issue statements about their 
commitment to racial justice and at least some to follow up on those 
statements with action. Many participants and observers have noted the 
opportunity for change, saying that it feels “different” this time around.

This proposed special issue of /Peace & Change/ represents one way the 
Peace History Society can contribute to our understanding of the present 
moment, encouraging and highlighting new scholarship on the relationship 
between peace and racial justice. What are the animating visions that 
have driven movements for peace and justice and who participated in 
them? What connections have activists made between these two causes, and 
what have they accomplished? How have definitions of peace and racial 
justice changed over time, and who has had the power to define them?

Peace historians and educators are accustomed to thinking about peace as 
the presence of justice, but these connections beg for further 
interrogation. How have theoretical connections between peace and 
justice played out in practice? What have been the challenges and 
successes in bringing causes of peace and justice together? This issue 
will go beyond the well- known stories of how African Americans 
contributed to bringing nonviolent methods into social movements and 
address more complex connections between peace and racial justice in 
theory and practice. We are interested in transnational, 
interdisciplinary, and innovative approaches to themes such as the 
following:

  * Peace and racial justice in music, literature, graphic and
    performing arts
  * Movements that prioritized both peace and racial justice
  * The meaning(s) of violence and nonviolence
  * The history of policing and prisons and proposals for alternatives
  * Structural/Systemic/Slow violence and Peace Studies
  * Peace education and racial justice
  * Antiwar/peace movements and racial justice
  * Race, class, and nonviolence
  * Gender, race, and peace activism
  * Law, racial justice, and peace
  * Environmental justice and peace issues
  * War, militarism, and communities of color
  * Patriotism and racial justice
  * Queer theory, peace, and justice
  * The language and culture of movements for peace and justice

Essays of up to 10,000 words are due January 31, 2021. Authors must 
address the guest editor and clearly indicate in a cover letter that the 
submission is intended for the 2021 special issue. Queries should be 
sent directly to guest editor Robbie Lieberman at rlieberm at kennesaw.edu 
<mailto:rlieberm at kennesaw.edu>. Information about Peace & Change and 
submission guidelines can be found at: 
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/14680130/homepage/forauthors.html

http://peacehistorysociety.org/announcements/racialjustice.php


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