Call for Submissions to a Special Issue of Democratic Communiqué:

Freedom of Expression, Campus Politics, Academic Freedom and the War on Gaza

Since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, Israel has engaged in an ongoing and massive assault on Gaza and the Palestinian people, inflicting mass casualties to such an extent that many academics, journalists, activists, artists, human rights groups, and even the nation of South Africa, have identified the Israeli government’s assault as genocide. This onslaught is now being extended to the West Bank and Lebanon. At the same time, an international protest movement has called for an end to the violence and for the liberation of the Palestinian people. But many voices of protest have been met with silencing, censorship, deplatforming, punishment, and, at times, violence. While this has long been the case, the past year has seen an acceleration of reactionary responses to activism, art, education, and media devoted to solidarity with Palestine. Because of UDC’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom, we are devoting a special issue of Democratic Communiqué to manuscripts focusing on the suppression of criticism of the Israeli government’s actions and the censoring of pro-Palestinian perspectives in both academia and the larger political discourse.

Manuscript Submission Information:

• Manuscripts should be submitted by email to guest editor, Bill Yousman: yousmanw@sacredheart.edu

• The deadline for full consideration is April 30, 2025. Only completed manuscripts will be considered for review. Both full length (25 page) manuscripts or shorter reflection pieces will be considered.

• Peer review will consist of two blind reviews, followed by an editorial decision. In cases with reviewer discrepancies the managing editor will weigh in.

• Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

About Democratic Communiqué:

Our journal, Democratic Communiqué, is focused on critical media analysis. We publish articles exploring any of a wide range of topics, including alternative/community/public media, the internationalization of capital and information flows, media and imperialism, telecommunication industry ownership and consolidation, information society, information technology and surveillance, feminist political economy, environmental political economy, media’s relatedness to social class, labor or social movements, and analyses of cultural artifacts or practices which encompass ideational and material concerns. While these topics encompass a vast swath of academic inquiry and scholarship, they are united in their critical examination of media and communication as they relate to political economy, individual and societal involvement in these economic systems, and the policies that shape them.