This is a call for articles or essays on historical, social or political issues in Commonwealth societies for issue no.4 of Postcolonial Cultures Studies and Essays. This issue will follow the SAES 2025 theme of “Transitions”. Articles are invited that consider political, social, economic, cultural or ecological transitions. This could include discussing transition to a greener future (for example in India, Australia, Canada…) or the climate crisis in particular countries. The theme could also cover political re-imaginings and desired transitions to a more postcolonial or decolonial standpoint as well as resistance to them. For instance, can the process of ‘transitional justice’ after the well-documented case of South Africa be observed in other countries?

Nous lançons un appel à contributions pour le numéro 4 de Postcolonial Cultures Studies and Essays. Nous recherchons des articles ou des essais traitant de questions historiques, sociales ou politiques dans les sociétés du Commonwealth. Ce numéro s'inscrira dans le thème « Transitions » du congrès des anglicistes, SAES 2025. Nous invitons les auteurs à soumettre des articles traitant des transitions politiques, sociales, économiques, culturelles ou écologiques dans les sociétés marquées par le postcolonialisme.

This is a call for articles or essays on historical, social or political issues in Commonwealth societies for issue no.4 of Postcolonial Cultures Studies and Essays

Guest editors

• Bernard Cros
• Marie-Ondine Aza

Argument

This issue will follow the SAES 2025 theme of “Transitions”. Articles are invited that consider political, social, economic, cultural or ecological transitions. This could include discussing transition to a greener future (for example in India, Australia, Canada…) or the climate crisis in particular countries. The theme could also cover political re-imaginings and desired transitions to a more postcolonial or decolonial standpoint as well as resistance to them. For instance, can the process of ‘transitional justice’ after the well-documented case of South Africa be observed in other countries?

The call also invites papers around the development of sovereignty and justice, advances in indigenous rights and land ownership, or new perspectives on national, regional or global identities shaped by new patterns of migration.

Other ongoing changes are also possible topics – the digital revolution, the 'attention economy', and the future of the Commonwealth, with issues of republicanism and monarchy, as well as the legacy and impact of British colonialism on post-colonial societies. Finally, the theme can also be understood in terms of historiography – the notion of periodization, or of revisions of historical understandings of the past, or the notion of certain ‘epistemological turns’ in history

The journal Postcolonial Cultures Studies and Essays is a peer-reviewed journal showcasing research on Commonwealth and postcolonial societies. The journal has been published annually since 1995 by the SEPC (formerly Société d’Étude des Pays du Commonwealth, now Société d’Étude Postcoloniales) in tandem with the journal of literature, Commonwealth Essays and Studies, (under the title Cultures of the Commonwealth). The journal publishes articles on contemporary issues around postcolonialism, affecting Commonwealth societies (19th- 21st c.), or all regions having a historical link with the British Empire. Using an inter-disciplinary approach (history, sociology, political science, cultural studies, economics, cultural history), the idea is to compare social issues across the English-speaking world. These issues include indigenous rights, settler, postcolonial et decolonizing identities, gender and sexuality, social class, minority rights, republicanism and monarchy, ecology and the shifting frontiers of globalization.

Submission guidelines

Articles, interviews, and reviews should be in English or French and submitted electronically to the editors. They should be around 6,000 words or 36,000 signs (including explanatory notes and works cited) and should follow the Chicago manual of style 17th edition.

Translations are to be provided for citations in languages other than English or French. Submissions should also provide a brief biographical note (50-70 words along with name, affiliation, student standing (if applicable) as well as a postal address, and e-mail address. Submissions should be sent as email attachments jointly to guest editors Ondine AZA at marie-ondine.aza@ut-capitole.fr and Bernard CROS bernard.cros02@univ-paris8.fr

Submission deadline: October 31^st 2025

Journal presentation

The journal Postcolonial Cultures Studies and Essays is a peer-reviewed journal showcasing research on Commonwealth and postcolonial societies. The journal has been published annually since 1995 by the SEPC (Société d’Étude des Pays du Commonwealth) in tandem with the journal of literature, Commonwealth Essays and Studies, (under the title Cultures of the Commonwealth). The journal publishes articles on contemporary issues around postcolonialism, affecting Commonwealth societies (19th- 21st c.), or all regions having a historical link with the British Empire. Using an inter-disciplinary approach (history; sociology, political science, cultural studies, economics, cultural history), the idea is to compare social issues across the English-speaking world. These issues include indigenous rights, settler, postcolonial et decolonizing identities, gender and sexuality, social class, minority rights, republicanism and monarchy, ecology and the shifting frontiers of globalization.