There are two ways of defining what we mean by the precariat. One is to say it is a distinctive socio-economic group, so that by definition a person is in it or not in it. This is useful in terms of images and analyses, and it allows us to use what Max Weber called an ‘ideal type’. In this spirit, the precariat could be described as a neologism that combines an adjective ‘precarious’ and a related noun ‘proletariat’.

                                                                                                                                – Guy Standing

Globalisation has generated new forms of insecure communities across the world, cutting across usual divisions of first and third world, but buttressed nevertheless by various forms of divisions fostered by considerations of gender, race, ethnicity, age, educational qualifications and so on. The ‘precariat’ is a term that seeks to identify this insecure, vulnerable and fragmented population while being mindful of its inherent fluidity and heterogeneity. The postcolonial world, deeply enmeshed in the dynamics of global capital, has been affected by the rise of the precariat as well. Migrants labourers, refugees, victims of ethnic and religious persecutions, agricultural labourers or farmers burdened with loans, populations subjected to draconian treatment by states, citizens who become subjected to unforeseen retrenchments, adivasis or aboriginal communities who are suddenly deprived of their lands, people who destituted and displaced by supposed developmental projects or environmental disasters brought about by unchecked development –  may all be identified as the postcolonial precariat. The next issue of Postcolonial Interventions invites papers that would focus on the literary and cultural representations of the postcolonial precariat, and the vortex of concerns surrounding the emerging and evolving forms of precarity.

The General Section will also feature papers focusing on issues and concerns associated with the broader domain of postcolonial studies as a whole.

Reviews and or Interviews related to academic publications and author and critics associated with postcolonial studies are also welcome.

Submission Guidelines:

1. Articles must be original and unpublished. Submission will imply that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere.
2. Written in Times New Roman 12, double spaced with 1″ margin on all sides, in doc/docx format.
3. Between 4000-7000 words, inclusive of all citations.
4. With in-text citations and a Works Cited list complying with Chicago Manual of Style (author-date) specifications.
5. A separate cover page should include the author’s name, designation, an abstract of 250 words with a maximum of 5 keywords and a short bio-note of 50 words.
6. The main article should not in any way contain the author’s name. Otherwise the article will not be considered.
7. Reviews also need to follow the aforementioned guidelines. However, word limit for reviews is 1500 words.
8. The contributors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any material, including photographs and illustrations for which they do not hold copyright.

Please send your submissions to postcolonialinterventions@gmail.com by 31March 2020