Call for Proposals | Forum: Theorizing Culture in Global Relations
Call for proposals for a new Forum on Theorizing Culture in Global Relations in The Hague Journal of Diplomacy.
Patricia M. Goff, Wilfrid Laurier University, pgoff@wlu.ca
Sarah E.K. Smith, Western University, sarah.smith@uwo.ca
Heightened regional conflicts, challenges to historic alliances, disruptions to multilateralism, and trade-related economic uncertainty are just a few recent sources of geopolitical tension. In many instances, these developments have a strong cultural dimension – ethno-national rationalizations for conflict or culturally grounded narratives that drive foreign policy, for example – creating an opportunity for scholars to renew our understanding of the role of culture in global politics. This Hague Journal of Diplomacy Forum invites contributions advancing theoretical approaches to culture in global relations. Seeking to move beyond dominant frameworks in International Relations, which privilege “soft power” (Nye 1990), propaganda, and entrench the nation-state, and with an aim to surmount limited definitions of culture (as identified by Reus-Smit 2018, 2019), we call for a reflexive and critical approach to culture (echoing Brison & Jessup 2024). We invite contributors to share new theories, approaches, and conceptualizations that offer insights into culture in global relations. These texts may address cultural diplomacy or can approach culture in global relations from a more expansive perspective. They may also take into account the plethora of actors—including practitioners, non-state actors, governments, and multilateral organizations—who mobilize culture for economic development (Yúdice 2003). Contributors may address issues ranging from culture as an economic sector to the repatriation of artifacts, cultural representations, censorship of cultural initiatives, and culturally informed policy and activism. These dimensions of culture and global relations are not exhaustive and we aim to draw contributions across a wide range of topics.
The Forum provides a space for provocations, new perspectives, and novel approaches to galvanize discussions of culture and global relations. These contributions are short and grounded in academic research, but more argumentative than a research article. While the scope of this Forum is broad, contributions should address the Hague Journal of Diplomacy’s core readership (universities and think tanks) and the journal’s focus on the theory, practice, processes and outcomes of diplomacy in both its traditional state-based forms, as well as contemporary diplomatic expressions practised by states and non-state entities.
We invite contributions from international relations, political science, and diplomatic studies, as well as interdisciplinary approaches and contributions from practitioners and those with disciplinary perspectives typically understood as sitting outside of diplomatic studies. The purpose of the forum is not to deny the value of studies grounded in notions of cultural diplomacy. But we do recognize their limits and, consequently, a need to think conceptually and theoretically about how culture is mobilized in global relations. We welcome proposals from all over the world and from scholars at all stages of their careers.
References:
Brison, Jeff and Lynda Jessup, “Towards a Critical Cultural Diplomacy,” Diplomatica 6 (2024), 44-70. DOI:10.1163/25891774-bja10121.
Nye Jr., Joseph S. “Soft Power,” Foreign Policy 80 (1990), 153-171.
Reus-Smit, Christian. “International Relations Theory Doesn’t Understand Culture.” Foreign Policy (March 21, 2019), https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/21/international-relations-theory-doesnt-understand-culture/.
Reus-Smit, Christian. On Cultural Diversity: International Theory in a World of Difference (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018).
Yúdice, George. The Expediency of Culture (Durham: Duke University Press, 2003).
Forum Guest Editors: Patricia M. Goff and Sarah E.K. Smith
Length of Proposals: 200 words
Email to: pgoff@wlu.ca and sarah.smith@uwo.ca
Proposal deadline: September 15, 2025
Length of Essays: 3,000 words
Selection of Proposals: September 30, 2025
Submission of Selected Papers: December 31, 2025
Submission of Revised Essays: February 28, 2026
Publication in The Hague Journal of Diplomacy: 2026