Call for papers from the Radical Community Work Journal (deadline April 30th 2021)

The Radical Community Work Journal is offering a space for academics, practitioners, and students to contribute to the discussion about how we, ‘build back better’ for its Summer 2021 issue.

The editors write:

“As always, we are not looking for a definitive answer but invite thinking and writing which is challenging, thought provoking, inspirational and rooted in real life.

There can be no doubt that we have lived and are living through unprecedented times due to the global pandemic. Many of the fault lines that always existed within society have been brought to the surface, inequalities and divisions have been laid bare and at the same time solidarity, compassion, support, and a shared humanity has been expressed in small and big ways.

Many of the assumptions that have been held about the world and the ways things are done have been questioned. This is a time when people have been forced to sit still and take stock; perhaps we are at a place where some of the lessons we have learned might stick or might not.

As we begin to come to the end of the worse manifestations of the pandemic, people’s minds are beginning to turn to the future. Whether that is on a personal level or thinking about our organisations, communities and nations, the time is right for us to consider what we want to hold onto what we want to change.

We think there are some key questions here:

Do we simply want to go back to how things (communities, everyday life, methods of organising) were before?
If not, how do we work with people to explore what the new ‘normal’ might be?
How do we organise to ‘build back better’?

We would love to hear from you if:

You are involved in practice which has something to say to individuals and organisations who are exploring and beginning to rebuild the new normal.
You have developed a theoretical understanding of what’s important at this point in history.
You have an analysis or critique of some of the emerging discourse on ‘building back better’.
Or you have anything else it is important for people to think about as we emerge from the pandemic.

How to submit a paper:

If you would like to be included in this upcoming issue, Email an abstract of your paper (approx. 200 words) to editors@rcwjournal.org with the subject line “Building Back Better” by April 30th.

If accepted, a final paper of between 4,000 and 8,000 words will be requested by the end of May

Following the review process, the issue of the Journal will be published in July 2021