Call for Papers: January 2021 (Volume 11, Issue 1)

Journal of Internal Displacement

CALL FOR PAPERS

‘A Crisis within a Crisis: Global Pandemics and Displacement’

January 2021 (Volume 11, Issue 1)

Submission Deadline: 1 September 2020

The Coronavirus, known as COVID-19, has shaken the world to its core. It is beyond doubt that the current pandemic will have a fundamental and long-lasting impact on how we work, learn and live. The implications of global pandemics for human movement are indeed readily apparent. With billions of people in lockdown, the majority of the world’s population are now personally and collectively experiencing what it means to have restrictions imposed on their movement rights. But for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and others, this is not the first time they find their freedom of movement controlled by extraneous factors that lie outside of their control. Forced migrants are accustomed to such restrictions, and many are adept at finding ways and means by which to continue their lives in times of crisis. Nonetheless, little to no attention is being given to either the impact of COVID-19 on displaced persons or the insights they themselves might bring to benefit others for whom restrictions on their movement rights are a short-term novelty. Instead, the pandemic has increased the risks of violence, racism and other forms of discrimination against persons displaced internally and internationally, rendering them ever more vulnerable to the worst forms of abuse and exploitation.  

For its upcoming January 2021 issue, the Journal of Internal Displacement (JID) is seeking original contributions on the inter-relationship between displacement and global pandemics, not only COVID-19 but also SARS, Ebola, H1N1 and similar. Submissions are welcome from all disciplines and topics on displacement, defined broadly to include IDPs, refugees, trafficked persons, stateless persons, nomads, “boat/cruise ship people”, the homeless, and other migrants. Papers on the following indicative topics are especially encouraged:

·       health factors as a cause of displacement;

·       the social, economic and political impact on displaced persons;

·       pandemic prevention, containment and mitigation in camp settings;

·       consultation with displaced persons, and strategies for information-sharing and awareness-raising;

·       rights, legal protection and advocacy;

·       coping strategies and self-care;

·       how people who are not “home” stay “home” and experience social distancing;

·       displacement of the rich and famous;

·       efforts to promote and sustain community relations; and

·       the role(s) that displaced persons can and do play in bringing pandemics under control.

Submission guidelines:

·       Manuscripts must be submitted via the JID online submission portal, available here, no later than 1 September 2020. Manuscripts must be no more than 7,000 words in length. Further author guidelines are provided here.

·       Please direct all questions to JID Assistant Editor, Dr Ben Hudson, at the following email address: ben.hudson@journalofinternaldisplacement.org.