JSR: Journal for the Study of Radicalism—an academic journal published by Michigan State University Press—announces a call for articles and book reviews.JSR seeks articles on political and religious forms of radicalism across the political spectrum. "Radicalism" here refers not to social reform, but to those who seek through violent or non-violent means to bring about sudden political transformation. In particular, we are interested in articles that consider such topics as both historical or contemporary anarchist figures or groups, ecological radicalism, antifa, communism, and radical violence. We are also interested in contemporary radical or terrorist figures and movements such as nihilistic accelerationist figures or groups as well as in-depth analysis of particular figures or movements exemplary of religious radicalism or terrorism.Send queries or submit articles by 1 July 2026 to Dr Josh Vandiver at jsr@uccs.edu

Forthcoming special issue: Techno-Optimism and Techno-PessimismJournal for the Study of Radicalism

We invite articles and book reviews for a special issue to be published in early 2027 on radical technologists and futurists—or techno-optimists of various stripes—also, their numerous critics and opponents, or techno-pessimists broadly conceived.
Possible subjects include nineteenth-century movements and thinkers from Saint-Simonians and Taylorists to Luddites, Romantics, and Young Englanders; twentieth-century figures like the Italian Futurists Filippo Marinetti and Umberto Boccioni, or later fascist futurists, and their critics; and twenty-first-century techno-optimists from Bitcoin partisans to AI prophets and their various interlocutors including Nick Land, the Dark Enlightenment, and Paul Kingsnorth. Critiques of all sorts, including religious and ecological, are of interest. Finally, we invite research centered on specific technologists like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Joe Lonsdale, Alex Karp, Palmer Luckey, and others. Historically focused explorations are welcome, but we are always interested in a wide range of approaches and methodologies.Abstracts (max 250 words, including title) of proposed papers, and proposed book reviews, are due to jsr@uccs.edu by 1 May 2026. Complete articles are due by 1 November 2026; contact editors Dr Arthur Versluis and Dr Josh Vandiver at jsr@uccs.edu for queries.

Background

The Journal for the Study of Radicalism engages in serious, scholarly exploration of the forms, representations, meanings, and historical influences of radical social movements. With sensitivity and openness to historical and cultural contexts of the term, we loosely define "radical," as distinguished from "reformers," to mean groups who seek revolutionary alternatives to hegemonic social and political institutions, and who use violent or non-violent means to resist authority and to bring about change. The journal is eclectic, without dogma or strict political agenda, and ranges broadly across social and political groups worldwide, whether typically defined as "left" or "right." We expect contributors to come from a wide range of fields and disciplines. We especially welcome articles that reconceptualize definitions and theories of radicalism, feature underrepresented radical groups, and introduce new topics and methods of study.Submissions should be 20-30 pages in length, in .doc format, and conform to Chicago Manual of Style endnotes. Please include a one-paragraph abstract. Images for possible use in an article should be 300 dpi. Authors are responsible for requesting and receiving permission to reprint images for scholarly use.See https://msupress.org/journals/journal-for-the-study-of-radicalism/  for more information.