Deadline: November 22, 2024

This CFP, requiring no payment from the authors, is a shared space where scholars and practitioners explore various aspects of everyday democracy, particularly in the context of polarization and radicalization. Polarization, aligning societal differences along a single dimension, poses significant risks to democracy by fostering opposition and conflict (McCoy et al., 2018). Radicalization, often a consequence of polarization, involves individuals or groups moving away from mainstream ideologies toward more extreme positions, sometimes leading to violence (Schmid, 2013). 

By examining how everyday democracy interacts with these processes, this book aims to provide new insights into how democratic resilience can be built in the face of polarization and radicalization. Through a broad approach encompassing various societal systems and institutions, the book explores the complexities and nuances of these challenges, offering a deeper understanding of everyday democracy and its potential to mitigate the risks of polarization and radicalization.  Read more below or at http://lnu.se/en/research/research-projects/project-the-book-everyday-democracy/.

Interested chapter contributors are welcome to propose chapters that showcase the wide spectrum of research on polarization and radicalization in relation to democratic values. Examples of topics chapters can address in the three respective categories that form the framework of the book, include but are not limited to the following:

1. Collaborative Forms:

• How participatory governance initiatives, such as citizen assemblies or deliberative practices, can foster democratic resilience against polarization and radicalization

• The role of digital platforms and open government practices can play in promoting dialogue, common understanding and a cohesive society

• Ways in which citizen professionalism and public-work democracy can foster everyday democratic engagement that counters radical ideologies and polarization

• How collaborative action research methodologies can facilitate depolarization and democratic discourse

• Avenues for interdisciplinary approaches (e.g. politics, sociology, and science) to enhance the effectiveness of everyday democracy in counteracting radicalization

2. Interaction Cases:

• Cities where shared governance of public spaces foster democratic engagement and challenge local extremism or exclusion

• Art and cultural institutions, or local libraries, engaging e.g. marginalized youth in democratic processes

• Schools where democratic practices have been implemented, making use of e.g. participatory decision-making and curriculum design

• Everyday democratic practices in cities or local communities facing different types of crises (such as inequality, climate change, or migration)

• NGOs and community-led fact-checking initiatives aiming to counter microradicalization

• Lessons learned from the Dialogue to Change Approach (also known as Dialogue to Action)

• The contribution by makerspaces, graffiti, and other art forms in contributing to everyday democratic engagement in polarized communities

3 Research-Based Explorations:

• How media and social media shape everyday democratic discourse, both promoting polarization and offering platforms for counter-radicalization and democratic engagement

• The democratic potential of local histories and urban movements to reclaim public spaces for equity and inclusion

• The impact of popular culture—music, films, and literature—on shaping public perceptions of democracy and radicalization, both positively and negatively

• The role of speculative thinking and conspiracy theories in fostering or deepening political polarization

• Commonalities and differences in approaches to de-radicalization across diverse global contexts

• Feminist perspectives on authoritarian populism as seen through the boundary work in everyday life

Submission guidelines

If you are interested in contributing to this project, please submit an extended abstract (max. 500 to 750 words) of your proposed chapter and a short biographical note (max. 150 words) by 22 November 2024, to everydaydemocracy@lnu.se. Chapter submissions and further editorial and peer reviews will be carried out via a publishing platform.

The extended abstract must clearly state the intended analytical goals and empirical/theoretical coverage of the proposed chapter while clarifying how the proposed chapter addresses central themes of the edited volume. If possible, indicate which category your chapter is best suited for, i.e. as Collaborative Forms and Scholarly Approaches, Interaction Cases or Research-Based Explorations.

Please include up to five indicative references you plan to use in your chapter. While these references might change along the way, they are useful to avoid potential overlaps among contributors. 

The targeted academic publisher will be chosen after the selection of abstracts is finalized. All chapters submitted should be original works and must not be under consideration by other publishers. 

Important dates

• Deadline for extended abstracts: 22 November 2024
  
• Notification of accepted chapter proposals: 29 November 2024
  
• Initial chapter draft: 10 January 2025 
  
• Editorial review feedback: 17 January 2025
  
• Deadline for full submissions: 20 February 2025
  
• Peer review: March-April 2025
  
• Submission of revised chapters: 16 June 2025
  
• Expected publication year: Winter 2025/Spring 2026

Editors

Pernilla Jonsson Severson, Associate Professor in Media and Communication Studies, Department of Media and Journalism, Linnaeus University, Sweden Contact: pernilla.severson@lnu.se 

Emma Ricknell, Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Linnaeus University, Sweden Contact: emma.ricknell@lnu.se

Contact information

Please contact Pernilla Jonsson Severson at pernilla.severson@lnu.se if you have any questions regarding the chapter proposal.