Call for Papers: Special Issue, The Comparatist

Topic: Reistance and Refusals

General Editor: Zahi Zalloua (Whitman College)

Resistance or refusal? Is this a difference without substance? Or is the latter an attempt to break free from a reliance on the very system that it is trying to critique or overcome? One might argue that refusal is less prone to cooptation than resistance (yes, resist but within the limits of liberal reason), or, conversely, that refusal is too utopian in thinking that it can actually fully divest from the system, à la Bartleby’s I would prefer not to. Does resisting the master’s house end-up centering the master’s house and his vicious tools? Is refusal really less reactional and more life-affirming than resistance? Why and how do we resist? On what grounds do we refuse? And, finally, what is the relation of resistance and refusals to liberation? We welcome contributions that examine resistance and refusals in comparative studies and literary theory. Keeping the dynamics of these questions in mind, this volume will consider the ways these notions are taken up by various authors and movements and for what purpose. Topics of interest could include:

Indigenous Politics of Refusal

Free Palestine

Violence and Armed Struggle

Reform versus Revolution

Anti-Fascism

Anti-Zionism

Class Struggle

Land Back Movement

The Movement for Black Lives

Queer and Trans Refusals

The Afterlife of Slavery

Colonial Modernity

Liberal Hegemony and Its Discontents

The Communist Horizon

Interested contributors should submit a 1-page abstract by April 1, 2026 to zallouz@whitman.edu. Deadline for completed articles will be December 1, 2026.