Themed section: Queer Thanatologies - Whatever. A Transdisciplinary Journal of Queer Theories and Studies, issue 4 (2021)
Whatever. A Transdisciplinary Journal of Queer Theories and Studies / CIRQUE (Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca Queer - Inter-University Centre for Queer Research)
direttore@cirque.unipi.it
Introducing Whatever
Scholars working in queer studies, both in and out of academia, are still often marginalized; one of the aspects of this marginalization is the lack of publishing venues, which discourages potentially original and creative researchers from pursuing their interest in queer studies, and from contributing to the development of the field. This has a negative impact on both the queer studies community, and on scholarly, social, and political discourse in general.
Whatever exists to facilitate a dialogue among researchers who work in any field related to queer studies. We are excited that scholars the world over are spinning queer outwards in a range of new and promising directions, such as neuroqueer, animal queer, queer economies, queer pedadogies, the queer politics of migration, and many more. Their daring and original work is a powerful testimonial to the productivity and vitality of a cluster of theories which deserve to be more widely known and applied, both in scholarship, teaching, and research, and in activism, advocacy, and policy-making.
The purpose of Whatever is to offer scholars working in queer studies, in and out of academia, a place to share their work, to reach like-minded readers, to initiate collaborations, to make things happen. We aim to foster a diverse and mutually respectful community among scholars of different backgrounds, research interests, methodological allegiances and disciplinary affiliations.
Whatever is indexed in the following databases: ROAD, ERIH plus, DOAJ.
Applications for the following databases are pending:
EBSCO: Philosopher's Index, LGBT&Gender studies database; ProQuest; Sherpa/ROMEO; OpenAIRE.
Whatever is published once a year; the first three issues are online at https://whatever.cirque.unipi.it/
We are now inviting submission for the fourth issue.
Even-numbered issues, like the upcoming one, include a general section, which will host papers dealing with any and all aspects of queer theories and studies, and several themed sections, each curated by an independent editorial team. A list of the themed sections for this fourth issue can be found below.
Whatever is double-blind peer-reviewed, online, open-access.
Contributions are accepted in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Papers should be between 30.000 and 80.000 characters in length; authors wishing to submit longer works are invited to contact us first explaining their reasons; please write to the managing editor, Giovanni Campolo: giovanni@battitoriliberi.it . Authors are welcome to include a variety of media, such as images, sound files, and audiovisuals.
Papers should be submitted anonymously through the journal website following a guided five-step submission process. A submission checklist and guidelines are available at: https://whatever.cirque.unipi.it/index.php/journal/about/submissions. A detailed submission guide is found at the end of this document.
Deadlines and relevant dates
• The deadline for all submissions for issue 4 (general and themed sections alike) is October, 31, 2020.
• Revised versions of accepted papers will be due on February, 28, 2021.
• Last proofs will be sent on May, 21, 2021 and corrections are due on May 25, 2021.
• The issue will be published on June, 20, 2021.
Themed Section: Queer Thanatologies
Guest editors: Anna Chiara Corradino, Carmen Dell'Aversano, Roberta Langhi, Mattia Petricola
We are now to enter a 'post-same-sex-marriage' world. This form of marriage is either recognized or on its way to being recognized nearly everywhere in Western lands. Yet, the struggle for the recognition of non-traditional families is far from over. Many individuals are investing in relationships falling outside the model of the marital family: a nuclear, preferably heterosexual, exclusive and romantic. Think of nonconjugal relationships, polyamorous relationships, nomadic families, and various religious-based normativities.
These relationships are 'queer' to the extent they live 'familyhood' in ways that challenge traditional notions of family. In so doing, they expose the cracks of a seemingly coherent system of ordering and are subversive to a pre-arranged state- approved way of being family. Yet, this aspect might illuminate why Western states do not recognize them from a legal perspective.
This special issue has the double-barreled ambition to introduce queer families and offer reflections on why a state should legally recognize them. Notably, it will look at the problem from various angles: historical, expounding where and on which bases sub-sets of queer families have been recognized; comparative, especially looking at the rich European and North-American debate on the issue; interdisciplinary, establishing a sustained dialogue among legal research and disciplines within social sciences and humanities, notably social philosophy, sociology of the family, social movement studies, gender studies.
The ultimate aim is to offer theoretical tools to reconceive the current approach to the problem of the legal recognition of queer families. If not addressed, the current misalignment between law and the reality of modern families will impose high personal costs, affecting the way people live a central aspect of their life, family relationships.
Whatever registration guide
1. Go to whatever.cirque.unipi.it and click on "Register" or (in case you have already registered) on "Login", the pink buttons on the top right-hand corner.
2. Register to Whatever — we would much appreciate if you also registered as a Reviewer and listed your reviewing interests. (https://whatever.cirque.unipi.it/index.php/journal/user/register)
3. Check your email for a message asking you to confirm your registration (please also check your spam folder). Then confirm, log in and customise your password.
Whatever submission guide
1. On the Whatever website, click the "Make a submission" button on the right and read the checklist and guidelines (https://whatever.cirque.unipi.it/index.php/journal/about/submissions)
2. Click on "Make a submission" at the top of the frame (https://whatever.cirque.unipi.it/index.php/journal/submission/wizard)
3. Step 1 — Choose your role (Author), the Section you wish to submit to (see the call for papers above), check the Requirement boxes (the checklist is the same as in "Make a submission"; only this time you must check all boxes yourself ); then click "Save and continue".
4. Step 2 — Upload your file: a) select the file type (usually it's "Article", but you can upload more than one file); b) check the filename, just in case you uploaded the wrong file; c) confirm or add more stuff d) click "Complete" e) click "Save and continue".
5. Step 3 — Enter metadata: title, abstract, languages, keywords... Your co-authors must be listed in the "List of contributors" box; they do not have to register. Click Save and continue
6. Step 4 — Click on "Finish submission".
7. Step 5 — Sit back and relax or do what you please while your reviewers do their job.