Since the end of the Second World War, Latin America has occupied a distinctive place in the political and intellectual imaginaries of the German-speaking left. At different historical moments, the subcontinent functioned as a revolutionary horizon and as a symbol of freedom and political renewal—shaped in no small part by the experiences of German-speaking leftists who found exile in Latin America during National Socialism. The victory of the guerrilla fighters in Cuba and the myth of this “revolution in the tropics” propelled Latin America to the centre of global attention and turned the region into a powerful site of revolutionary projection. For many young people, Latin America seemed to embody the possibility of radical change—uncorrupted, open-ended, and in stark contrast to both the leaden atmosphere of the Cold War and a European left widely seen as stagnant, integrated, or politically exhausted. At the same time, a wide range of concrete entanglements intensified: political solidarity campaigns, exile and migration networks, the circulation of theories and political concepts, the adoption and adaptation of aesthetic and strategic repertoires, and numerous personal encounters. Latin America thus functioned both as a revolutionary imaginary and as a concrete political point of reference.
Existing research has addressed these connections largely in a fragmented way. Important studies exist on solidarity movements, the reception of specific theoretical approaches (such as dependency theory or liberation theology), revolutionary strategies such as the urban guerrilla, exile networks, and forms of transnational solidarity. What has received far less systematic attention, however, is the long-term interaction between political imagination, political practice, and the production and circulation of knowledge. It also remains to be examined how the image of Latin America within the German-speaking left after 1945 was constituted, how it changed over time, and what functions it fulfilled in different historical contexts—or, conversely, what influence the “Latin America complex” exerted on the theory and practice of the German-speaking left.
A central aim of this special issue is therefore to analyse Latin America both as an imagined space of revolution and as a real source of political and intellectual impulses for the German-speaking left. How did representations of Latin America change in the thinking of the German-speaking left from the post-war period and the New Left through the transformations after 1989/90 and into recent contemporary history? What real or imagined connections were established, and how were revolutionary expectations, political practice, and theoretical appropriations related to one another? What role did Latin America play within the ideological and intellectual framework of the German-speaking left, and how were struggles, concepts, and actors from the region interpreted, translated, appropriated, or instrumentalised? What contribution did Latin Americans themselves make to the formation of these images of Latin America?
Particular attention will also be paid to the asymmetries inherent in these relationships: who spoke about Latin America, who was heard, and who remained invisible or marginalised? To what extent did practices of solidarity reproduce Eurocentric or colonial regimes of knowledge—and where were such structures reflected upon, challenged, or disrupted? The issue also seeks to address new forms of reference after the end of the Cold War, for example through Neo-Zapatismo and the EZLN, Indigenous cosmovisions and concepts such as Buen Vivir, ecological and decolonial debates, or feminist movements such as Ni Una Menos. What role did Latin American leftists living in the German-speaking world play in this process? How did they shape their role as mediators between political imaginaries and lived realities?The call is intentionally broad and invites contributions employing a wide range of methodological approaches, chronological perspectives, and thematic focuses. We particularly welcome contributions from social and political history, intellectual history, cultural history, the history of knowledge, and the history of political thought, as well as comparative and transnational approaches. Contributions focusing on the GDR, Austria, and Switzerland are explicitly encouraged.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
• Latin America as a revolutionary imaginary and a space of political projection
• Icons, symbols, aesthetics, and narratives of revolution
• Global revolutionary horizons and alternative visions of world order beyond state socialism and the social market economy
• Negotiations of global power relations, imperialism, and anti-imperialism
• Translation, circulation of knowledge, and the appropriation of Latin American theories and concepts
• Militancy, organisational questions, and political translation processes
• Internationalism, solidarity, and conflict (with particular attention to emotions, gender relations, care work, and informal political labour)
• Ruptures, disillusionments, and transformations
• New forms of reference since the 1990s (e.g. EZLN, Buen Vivir, or #NiUnaMenos)
• Appropriation, power, and epistemic asymmetries
• Latin American leftists in the German-speaking world as mediators of political imaginaries, revolutionary experiences, and lived realities
• Contributions by Latin Americans to the formation of images of Latin America in the Germanspeaking world
Format and deadlines
We invite the submission of substantial abstracts (exposés) of up to 2,500 characters by 14 June 2026, outlining the topic, methodology, and source base of the proposed article. On the basis of these exposés, we will commission selected contributions. The deadline for the submission of full articles is 31 December 2026. Exposés and articles may be submitted in German, English, or Spanish. For non-German submissions, the final version will be translated and published in German. All contributions will undergo a multi-stage internal review process; publication can only be confirmed after submission and review of the final manuscript. We publish only original contributions (with the exception of articles not previously published in German). Contributions to Arbeit – Bewegung – Geschichte are not remunerated. Manuscripts should be submitted by e-mail as a .docx file. Full articles should not exceed 50,000 characters including spaces and footnotes. Please also consult the guidelines for authors.
Contact and submission: cfp@arbeit-bewegung-geschichte.de
Timeline
Submission of abstracts: 14 June 2026
Submission of full articles: 31 December 2026
Publication of the special issue: expected September 2027
Further information: https://www.arbeit-bewegung-geschichte.de/cf-sehnsuchtsort-lateinamerik…