Call for Papers: Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture

Special Issue: ‘Black Migrant Musicking in Contemporary Brazil’ 

Editors: Rose Satiko Hikiji, Jasper Chalcraft and Caetano Maschio Santos

Submissions due: 30 April 2026

View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/crossings-journal-of-migration-culture#call-for-papers

The decade of 2010–2020 in Brazil was marked by a plethora of momentous and consequential shifts on several dimensions. During those ten years, the political, economic, ideological, social and cultural landscape of the South American country underwent significant upheaval and change, which climaxed with the rise of right-wing authoritarian populism and the election of Jair Bolsonaro and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet underneath the escalating buzz of political and social dissent that ran through the decade another significant demographic and social change was taking place, as migration trends to Brazil began to grow in both total numbers and origin countries – some of which with no previous history of migration to the country.

Such a novel ‘immigration boom’ was characterized by a large influx of non-white migrants from the so-called Global South, including significant numbers of Black migrants and refugees from countries such as Haiti, and African countries (Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria and others). These new migrants were usually quickly absorbed by the Brazilian formal and informal labour market, taking up positions unwanted by Brazilians towards the bottom end of the socioeconomic pyramid. Yet, in social and cultural terms, most of them were caught stranded in unfamiliar social, cultural and linguistic landscapes which offered little space for intercultural dialogue and exchanges, which partially accounts for a situation in which Black migrants are both hyper visible as Black foreigners and socially invisible as new participants and legal residents in Brazilian society.

Against all odds, many of those migrants and refugees have gradually become agents in what Chalcraft and Hikiji name the ‘creative African [and Afro-diasporic] diaspora’ (2022), a translocal migrant social formation that has developed remarkable levels of musical and artistic activity, despite ‘sounding’ from positions of political, social, and economic precarity. The variety of such ‘musicking’ (Small 1998) uncovers not only a growing cultural, musical, and linguistic diversity in Brazil but also the workings of their transcultural capital (Glick-Schiller and Meinhof 2011) and diasporic communication networks, effectively promoting dialogue and exchange not only with origin countries but within Brazil and with other diasporic locations and communities.

This special issue of Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture engages with the musicking of African and Afro-diasporic migrants which partake in Brazil’s more recent immigration boom. Wishing to critically reflect on their diverse musical activity and its intersections with issues of race, citizenship, cultural policy, identity, cultural translation and issues closely related to diasporic cultural formations, this special issue of Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture seeks contributions from scholars, artists, and activists engaged with the musicking of recent African and Afro-diasporic migrants in Brazil. We encourage submissions in a range of formats including articles, essays, autobiographic narratives, reviews (books, albums, films and other formats). Articles should be 6000–8000 words long and must not exceed 8000 words (including notes, references, author biography, keywords and abstract). Submissions are expected to be original work not under consideration by other publications and will be submitted to anonymous peer review after an initial screening by the Special Issue editorial team.

Submissions should be sent to blackmigrantmusic@gmail.com

Notes for contributors:

See https://www.intellectbooks.com/asset/98048/1/CJMC_NFC_Oct_25.pdf

About Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture:

Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture is a peer-reviewed journal that offers a space for debates on the important nexus of migration and culture. It promotes diverse global and local perspectives by fostering cutting-edge research in this area, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary methodologies. This title is indexed with Scopus.

For more information, to access the journal or to subscribe visit the Discover platform: https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/cjmc.