"Dissent in World History" | World History Bulletin | Fall/Winter 2024

Guest-edited by Barbara J. Falk, Professor in the Department of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada and Director of Academics at the Canadian Forces College, the issue will explore the question of national and transnational dissent in its broadest sense and across all historical time periods. Falk has written, published and taught about resistance, dissent and dissidence for more than 30 years.

Recent protests on college campuses across the United States over the Israel-Hamas conflict call to mind various examples of dissent throughout modern world history, from independence movements in Africa and the response to suppressive regimes in parts of South America, to revolutions in Cuba and China, dissent against communist and authoritarian governments in Central and Eastern Europe, and civil rights movements in apartheid South Africa and the Southern United States. Yet the genealogy of dissent is deeply embedded as a motive force in world history—from Plato’s critiques of Athenian democracy and the work of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove to the fight against racist carceral systems in the West and the Arab Spring—and is ingrained in and inscribed on the human experience.

The origins of and responses to theories and practices of dissent raise myriad questions about its nature, the forms dissent can and has taken, who determines/decides what is/is not appropriate in terms of defining or expressing dissent, the motives of actors involved, and the responsibilities of officials to enable or foreclose opportunities for dissent and under what legal or ethical lines of reasoning.

The Bulletin is interested in submissions covering a range of topics related to the theme of dissent in world history, including:
- Origins of Dissent Movements. The social, cultural, political, and/or economic factors which have motivated movements in the past.
- Dissent Case Studies. The exploration of instances of dissent and their ramifications for local or global history and practice.
- Globalized Dissent. Examining global responses to regional/local conflicts/conditions.
- Freedom, Dissent, and Suppression. Studying the tensions between a society with institutionalized freedom of expression and state actors/officials who intervene to suppress dissent.
- Authoritarian Learning and Dissent. How contemporary authoritarian states are repurposing techniques of suppression and adopting and adapting new forms of surveillance and control to persecute, prosecute and eliminate dissent.
- Future Dissent. How innovation disrupted the landscape of dissent in the past, and how this might serve as a guide to future dissent movements.
- Techniques used in the classroom to introduce and explore dissent as part of wider political and sociocultural phenomena.
- Historiographies of theories and practice concerned with dissent in World History.

World History Bulletin therefore invites contributions to a thematic issue on dissent in world history. We are especially interested in articles that share novel research or historiographical perspectives which explore the origins of dissent movements as part of wider sociocultural and political circumstances and examine discursive elements between dissent and reform (political, social, cultural, and economic); present innovative teaching at all levels that employs techniques related to dissent, revolution, and counterrevolution in world history; or explore the connection between student engagement and world history as a result of coursework related to the theme “dissent in world history.” We also welcome short interviews with designers, artists, writers, and scholars and small roundtables on a book, film, or other work.

Submission Guidelines: Research and pedagogical articles should range between 1,500 and 6,000 words in length, including endnote text. The Bulletin accepts submissions which adhere to the style, format, and documentation requirements as outlined in the most recent edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. The Bulletin uses endnote citations, rather than footnote citations. Text of submissions should be spelled according to American English standard usage (e.g., favorite, rather than favourite). Submissions should be written in past tense, rather than the literary present, and passive voice should be avoided.

Submission Deadline: November 1, 2024

Essays and questions should be directed to Joseph M. Snyder, Editor-in-Chief of World History Bulletin, at bulletin@thewha.org.