Indigenous Worlds in Transition: Society, Ecology, and Justice Among Tribal and Marginalised Communities

deadline for submission: 20 December, 2026

full name/ name of organization
Dr. Sarita Pandey, Jananayak Chandrashekhar University, Ballia; Prof. Prabha Shankar Dwivedi, Banaras Hindu University

contact email: indigenousworldscfp@gmail.com

Call for Papers for the Edited Volume: Indigenous Worlds in Transition: Society, Ecology, and Justice Among Tribal and Marginalised Communities

The proposed edited volume, Indigenous Worlds in Transition: Society, Ecology, and Justice Among Tribal and Marginalised Communities, seeks to critically examine the changing realities of tribal and indigenous communities in the context of contemporary social, ecological, political, and economic transformations. The volume brings together interdisciplinary perspectives to explore the complex relationship between indigenous societies, their environments, knowledge systems, livelihoods, cultural practices, and struggles for justice.

The volume welcomes contributions engaging with Political Ecology and Decolonial Theory as complementary frameworks for examining the changing realities of indigenous and marginalised communities. Political Ecology foregrounds the relationship between environmental change, political-economic structures, resource distribution, and power, asking who benefits and who bears the costs of development, conservation, and resource extraction. Decolonial Theory, particularly Aníbal Quijano’s concept of the “coloniality of power”, draws attention to the persistence of colonial hierarchies in contemporary systems of knowledge, development, labour, and social organisation (Quijano, 2000). Walter Mignolo’s concept of “epistemic delinking” further invites attention to epistemic autonomy and indigenous ways of knowing (Mignolo, 2007), while Boaventura de Sousa Santos’s notion of “epistemicide” highlights the marginalisation or erasure of non-dominant knowledge systems (Santos, 2014). Contributors may draw upon these perspectives to explore indigenous epistemologies, traditional ecological knowledge, cultural identity, resistance, representation, policy, development, and struggles for epistemic justice. The two frameworks may also be used together to examine how material dispossession and epistemic marginalisation operate simultaneously in the lives of indigenous communities.

Indigenous communities across the Global South continue to negotiate profound transformations arising from development projects, displacement, environmental degradation, climate change, market forces, state policies, and changing social structures. At the same time, their knowledge systems, ecological practices, cultural traditions, and forms of community governance offer important alternatives to dominant models of development and sustainability.

The volume moves beyond approaches that represent indigenous communities as static or homogeneous cultural categories. Instead, it understands indigenous worlds as dynamic, evolving spaces in which communities continuously negotiate identity, knowledge, livelihood, environment, development, and justice. Contributions may draw upon sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, law, public policy, environmental studies, history, literature, cultural studies, and related interdisciplinary fields.

The volume particularly welcomes empirical, theoretical, historical, ethnographic, literary, and interdisciplinary approaches. Case studies and critical analyses examining development, livelihood transitions, conservation politics, climate change, social justice, cultural preservation, and indigenous knowledge are especially encouraged.

The volume seeks to contribute to contemporary debates on indigenous epistemologies, environmental justice, sustainable development, cultural resilience, and decolonial approaches to knowledge production, while opening possibilities for comparative and policy-oriented discussions with relevance beyond specific regional contexts.

Within this context, this volume welcomes submissions on indigenous worlds in transition. The contributors are encouraged to engage with conceptual frameworks ranging from intersectional theoretical analysis to close textual readings. Suggested topics include (but are not limited to) the followings:

• Indigenous Cosmologies, Knowledge Systems and Eco-Spirituality
• Development, Displacement and Resistance
• Tribal Movements, Identity and Political Mobilisation
• Forest Rights, FRA 2006 and Community Governance
• Livelihoods, Labour and Economic Marginalisation
• Ecofeminism and Tribal Women's Socio-Economic Roles
• Health, Education and Social Policy for PVTGs
• Law, Constitutional Safeguards and Tribal Rights
• Climate Change, Conservation Politics and Environmental Justice
• Oral Traditions, Folklore and Cultural Memory
• Ethnographic and Participatory Research Methods
• Tribal Narratives in Literature, Performance and Film

Editors

• Dr. Sarita Pandey, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Jananayak Chandrashekhar University, Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, India.
• Dr. Prabha Shankar Dwivedi, Professor, Department of English, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Submission Guidelines

Interested contributors are invited to submit their abstracts not exceeding of 500 words (excluding references), 5-7 keywords, and a brief bio (100 words) to indigenousworldscfp@gmail.com**

• Times New Roman, double-spaced, 12
• Chicago Manual Style

Important Dates

• Abstract Submission Deadline: 20 December
• Notification of Acceptance: 20 February
• Complete details of the full paper submission will be conveyed upon acceptance

Publisher’s Details

The volume is anticipated to be published by a globally recognised academic publisher specialising in high-quality scholarly works. More details will be conveyed via email.

**Please feel free to reach out to us at the following email address for any queries or information: indigenousworldscfp@gmail.com or at (+91) 7376451582. The aim and scope of this volume is to engage with indigenous worlds that are situated within and beyond the boundaries of South Asia as well. Contributors are therefore also encouraged to engage with indigenous communities from various parts of the world.

References

Quijano, A. (2000). Coloniality of power and Eurocentrism in Latin America. International Sociology, 15(2), 215–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580900015002005  

Mignolo, W. D. (2007). Delinking: The rhetoric of modernity, the logic of coloniality and the grammar of de-coloniality. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 449–514. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162647

Santos, B. de S. (2014). Epistemologies of the South: Justice against epistemicide [PDF]. UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education. https://unescochair-cbrsr.org/pdf/resource/Epistemologies_of_the_South.pdf