North Meridian Review, Volume II, Issue II

Each year The North Meridian Review publishes a special, guest edited issue of the journal. For our second year the theme is “Politics and Culture: Exploring the Connections Between Social Movements and the Arts,” and will be edited by Harry Targ. Professor Targ is a recently retired Professor of Political Science who has written and taught on international relations, foreign policy, labor movements, and peace. He has a long-standing interest in folk music, proletarian literature, painters as social critics, and Marxist aesthetics.

The theme of this year’s special volume will examine how social movements interact with the arts. Although social movement research often includes analyses of competing group interests, collective behavior, organizational capacities, and rational choices, less attention has been given to the inextricable connections between culture, broadly defined, and the creation and mobilization of such movements. This is despite the history which shows how music, painting, poetry, drama, fiction, and crafted lectures have inspired and mobilized masses of people to fight for their rights. Such has been the case in struggles for worker rights, civil rights, peace, and justice.

This collection of the North Meridian Review will explore through scholarship and art the ways in which social movements have been informed and shaped by products of culture. We seek articles, essays, poetry, and art that apply analysis from a humanistic, historical, and social scientific method to the topic of social movements. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

  • How different art forms connect with and are used by political activists.
  • The political significance of certain cultural artists, such as Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger, Frida Kahlo, or Dorothea Lange.
  • The political significance of arts programs such as the Federal Theatre Project of the 1930s.
  • The significance of mass movements and public performance such as Woodstock.
  • How social scientists have reshaped social movement theory in the light of performative political culture.

Submission Deadline:  December 1, 2020.

Author Acceptance Notifications:  February 14, 2021.

Publication: September, 2021.

  • Scholarly works should be 5,000-10,000 words in length and adhere to University of Chicago Style (17th ed.). Include a brief (2-3 pages) CV.
  • Personal and creative nonfiction essays should be 1,000-5,000 words in length. Include a brief bio in the body of the email.
  • Poetry submissions should be 1-5 pages in length. Include a brief bio in the body of the email.
  • Art pieces ideally should be in black and white and between 3-6 submissions. Include a brief bio in the body of the email.

Please email submissions as an attached word document with the subject line “NMR Special Issue 2021” followed by the genre of the piece to [email protected], and [email protected], cc’ [email protected]