Critical Times: Interventions in Global Critical Theory is a peer-reviewed, open access online journal published by the International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs with the aim of foregrounding contemporary critical theory operating within a global frame. The journal seeks to reflect upon and enact forms of transnational solidarity that draw upon critical theory and political practice from various world regions, calling into question hemispheric epistemologies in order to revitalize left critical thought for these times. Critical Times publishes essays, interviews, dialogues, dispatches, visual art, and various platforms for critical reflection. It occasionally reprints classical key critical texts from various world regions, re-envisioning the foundations of critical theory and mapping its future possibilities.
Critical Times fosters transnational encounters between critical theory and related traditions of intellectual critique from various world regions. It hopes to redress missed opportunities for critical dialogue between the Global South and Global North and to generate contacts across the current divisions of knowledge and languages in the South. This includes translated works from authors working in languages other than English who may not circulate widely in the Western academy. We encourage various formats of articles and essays, belonging in different regional and intellectual traditions.
Critical Times seeks to publish perspectives that shed light on contemporary practices of authoritarian and neo-fascist politics, nativist and atavistic cultural formations and forms of economic exclusion, as well as spaces and forms of life where different, emancipatory social worlds might be imagined and articulated. Hence, we aim at publishing essays that analyze emerging forms of authoritarianism and fascism; occupation and dispossession; race and racism; war and apartheid; neo-liberal legal and economic formations; sovereignty and post-national power; articulations of law and violence; technology; nature/climate change/environmental justice; biopolitics/necropolitics; religion; intellectual work in and of social movements; as well as socialism, ideals of transformation, equality, resistance, transnational solidarity, radical democracy and revolution.
The International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs (ICCTP) is housed at the University of California, Berkeley and Northwestern University and is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The task of this international consortium is to document, connect, and support the various programs and projects that now represent critical theory across the globe. Through its work, the Consortium aims to document the global contours of critical theory today, supporting critical thought both inside and outside the university in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and science and technology studies, and seeking collaborative ways to become critically responsive to pressing global challenges.
Editorial Policies
Peer Review
Full-length and short essays are peer-reviewed. All essays deemed appropriate for Critical Times will be sent anonymously to at least two referees (one external reader and one member of the executive editorial board or editorial advisory board). Based on the recommendations of the reviews, the editor will decide whether a submission is accepted for publication with minor or no revisions, or rejected. Both solicited and unsolicited submissions will be peer-reviewed as a condition of acceptance. The editors collaborate with reviewers and authors to promote prompt review and response to proposed edits and revisions to facilitate the timely publication of essays.
Author Guidelines
Preparation and Submission of Copy
Submissions, correspondence, revisions and other communications should be sent by email to CriticalTimes@berkeley.edu.
Full-length essays should be no longer than 10,000 words, inclusive of an abstract of 100-150 words, footnotes and bibliography. Short essays should be between 5,000 and 6,000 words and include an abstract.
To protect the anonymity of peer-reviewed content, authors should submit a separate cover page with the manuscript title and author names, affiliations, short bio note, and contact information. Authors should also remove name and affiliation from the abstract and manuscript.
Citations and References
Authors must ensure that proper acknowledgement of sources is given. References should follow the notes and bibliography format stipulated by the Chicago Manual of Style. Bibliographic citations provided in footnotes should be included in a separate bibliography.
Critical Times maintains the right to first publication of all submitted manuscripts. Submission of a manuscript to Critical Times is taken to indicate the author’s commitment to publish in the journal. Critical Times will not review any submission simultaneously under review by another journal.
All unpublished manuscripts are treated as strictly confidential.
Visual Art
We invite submissions of visual and textual art, video, and other artistic works.
Frequency of Publication
Three issues per year.
Copyright Notice
Critical Times provides open access to all of its content in order to facilitate widespread availability and impact throughout the world. The journal is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under these terms, the copyright for content published in the journal remains with the author, while first publication rights belong to the journal. The contents of the journal are free to use or republish so long as their source is properly credited.
Deadlines for Submissions
Issue 1 – July 17, 2017
Issue 2 – November 15, 2017
Issue 3 – March 19, 2018
Issue 4 – July 16, 2018