Call for Papers for a Special Issue of the International Journal of Ethics and Systems

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The TRACTS COST Action is creating this special issue in collaboration with the journals. The call is open to everyone, and the rules for submissions are described on the website of the journal. We are inviting members of this COST action and other colleagues with an interest in the topics of the action, to propose an abstract. Selected abstracts will be invited to hand in full papers as contributions for the review and selection process in an edition of the International Journal of Ethics and Systems to be published in 2025.

The International Journal of Ethics and Systems, in short IJoES, is a peer-reviewed academic journal for practitioners and scientists interested in the ethical and moral aspects of economic, social and political systems. Please find more information here: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/ijoes. Prof. Jacob Dahl Rendtorrf is the Executive Editor of IJoES and also a member of this Action. Please familiarise yourself with any required information that you may need for the submission of your paper.

The working group science communication panel of the COST action suggests some keywords which can be an open guide to content, rather than any kind of restriction. These words reflecting the purpose and interests of the group, include Trace, Ancient Culture, Sustainability, Gender, Culture Technology, Justice, Heritage, Care, Research Methods, Interdisciplinarity. Otherwise, the focus will be what you contributors make of it, around the interests outlined above and touching on the concerns and actions of the Working Groups and for this journal. Members of the COST action may apply for financial support for their papers, if they fit thematically and follow the rules of the COST action for publications. The special issue will finally be open access available for everyone and in April 2025 the special issue will be launched with a public event.

The timetable envisaged is as follows. Contributors (single and joint authors) will propose abstracts and papers which are to be sent to the editor (dbevan@stmartins.edu) by 15 September 2024. At this point there will be a meeting of the editorial group to agree which pieces to develop more fully in the following three months. A deadline will be set for later in the year at which point a standard review/revise process will begin. If you are not preparing a contribution, and you would be interested to join the editorial group, please drop me a mail.

Information about the COST Action

TRACTS stands for ‘Trace as a research agenda for climate change, technology studies, and social justice‘. TRACTS is a COST Action (2021–2025) that brings together scholars from disciplines of the social sciences and humanities with artists, decolonial activists, memorialization experts and legal professionals to bridge current cultural, political and geographical gaps in research on traces. The network is open and inclusive: people can join any time.

For fuller detail read our Memorandum of Understanding at https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA20134/

Background

In response to the recent waves of populism, actors as diverse as environmentalists, human rights activists, and curators have been confronting and creatively deploying the legacies of the 20th century. This shows no sign of abating in a Europe marked by rapid technological, environmental and socio-economic changes. As such, mapping the challenges in the realms of social justice, climate change, and technological impact on society requires reflecting on and producing new understandings regarding traces. This Action gathers a critical mass of scholars and practitioners at a crucial juncture of the European project. 

Our vision

The aim of this network is to reformulate the state-of-the-art in the research on traces through interdisciplinary networking and research coordination. An inclusive network on traces in the context of the current pressing challenges of social justice, climate change and technology can inform transformative research agendas and create new paradigms in the social sciences and humanities in Europe and beyond. 

We understand trace broadly as a phenomenon (an object/trail/ruin/archival record/memory/etc.) that is both a mark and a track of the past and the future, that can be found and followed in the present. In particular the action is focused on rethinking how we work with traces ethically, methodologically, and conceptually. We believe the best way to do this is through an interdisciplinary network of global scholars.

What we do

The action consists of meetings, training schools, scientific missions, and grants. In these events the focus is on experimental, interdisciplinary, creative and socially engaged means of collaborating and sharing research. By bringing together scholars, practitioners, and activists from a range of different disciplines and interest areas, we hope to establish links across the existing literature and research and identify new directions for those of us working with traces. The intention is that the outcomes of working together should range from the scholarly to the practical, to the experimental!  

How we work

The activities of the TRACTS COST Action are delivered by our Working Groups (WG). You can learn more about their WG activities and the leadership team .at https://tractsnetwork.online/working-groups/

  • WG1: Trace as Ethical, Methodological, and Conceptual Challenge
  • WG2: Traces and Social Justice
  • WG3: Traces and Climate Change
  • WG4: Traces and Technology
  • WG5: Dissemination and Communication

Thanks and kind regards,

David Bevan

Co-Chair WG5