We invite contributions to a forthcoming handbook on the histories of internationalism which will be published with Bloomsbury. The handbook is edited by Jessica Reinisch (Birkbeck), Su Lin Lewis (Bristol), and David Brydan (King’s College London). Contributors are invited to submit abstracts of 150-200 words, along with a biographical sketch of 50-100 words, for essays based on the framework set out below. The deadline for abstracts is 1st March 2025. Submissions should be sent to centreforinternationalism@gmail.com.
The aim of the handbook is to showcase new approaches that have emerged from the field over recent decades, and to help shape and inspire future research agendas. It seeks to complement existing handbooks of international history and international relations currently on the market, offering a distinct way of approaching the history of international cooperation in its various guises.
The handbook has two overarching themes and approaches. The first is the social history of internationalism, foregrounding the experiences of international actors and individuals, and asking how the history of internationalism can be told “from below”. The second is to explore the global history of internationalism, thinking seriously and systematically about what this history means from different geographical perspectives and in different global frameworks.
We invite proposals to sit within either of the following strands of the handbook:
1.) Actors Essays on key groups and actors in the history of internationalism. These could include categories like soldiers, health workers, “fixers”, translators, refugees, area specialists, or artists.
2.) Spaces Essays exploring the key places, sites and spaces in the history of internationalism. These could include cities and municipalities, the countryside, frontiers, battlefields and other places of war, refugee camps, world heritage sites, hotels, world fairs, archives, and virtual spaces of various sorts.
Guidelines
- Essays can be anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 words in length.
- We are very happy to accept proposals for co-written essays.
- As this is a handbook, we are looking for essays which engage with broader themes in the field, beyond that which might be the case for a journal article or chapter in an edited volume. We encourage contributors to explore comparisons where possible, or to write alongside someone with different regional or thematic expertise.
- Not every essay has to be global in approach, but we want to ensure that the volume as a whole is. With that in mind, we particularly welcome contributions which explore the history of areas beyond Europe and North America which have traditionally been underrepresented in the scholarship on the history of internationalism.
Timeline
We will request chapter abstracts to submit to the publisher in the summer of 2025. Final drafts of the chapters will need to be submitted by the summer of 2026. We expect the volume to be published in 2027.