The Justice, Power, and Politics series publishes new works that explore questions of social justice and political power and struggles for justice in the twentieth century. The series pursues—and brings into conversation with each other—books that use the lenses of justice, power, and politics to help readers better understand the evolution of the United States in the last century. The series includes works by both junior and more seasoned scholars that will find common ground not only in their content but also by broadening the way we think about these issues.
Tremendous historic political shifts in the United States, alongside trends in the historical scholarship, have noticeably increased lay as well as scholarly interest in the most contested periods in our nation’s past. Among scholars there has been a particularly marked interest in better understanding the ways in which people have fought for and defined “justice” in this country during the twentieth century, struggled for a greater voice in society (and thus greater power), and attempted to democratize access to politics.
There are three areas that clearly relate to the series themes of justice, power, and politics: historical examinations of the dynamics and legacies of grassroots political organizing and of movements for greater social, economic, and political justice; histories of and present-day manifestations of policy and the politics of justice; and intellectual histories of “justice.” Without question these areas of scholarship share an interest in the ways in which power relationships evolved in the United States. All are also interested in broadening the way we think about politics in the past and present.
Historical examinations of the dynamics and legacies of grassroots political organizing and in the history of movements for greater social, economic, and political justice
In recent years an exciting scholarship has emerged that seeks to historicize the social movements of past generations. Although important studies of everything from the civil rights and Black Power movements to disability rights activism, LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning) activism, and the justice struggles of the Chicana/o community now exist, such works remain insular—defined by identity-based boundaries such as race and ethnicity—and do not engage in a broader discourse regarding the way in which such struggles played out over time and across communities. This series will draw on the strengths of work being done in program studies areas (African American Studies, Chicana/o Studies, Native American Studies, etc.) but it will more explicitly bring that scholarship into a broader dialogue—either in regard to the questions or topics covered in a particular monograph, or as books grouped in a clearly bounded but expansively framed series.
Histories of and present-day manifestations of policy and the politics of justice
Scholarship in this category sheds light on the history of politics and policies related to justice and/or to shifting power relationships in this nation at the policy level. Whether historians are interested in questions related to the history, debates, and struggles of the criminal justice system, education policy, environmental justice, health care, or housing, they are all engaged in scholarship that we feel is new and exciting. When such works come together in one series, historians can begin to think about politics, power relationships, and justice in completely new ways. No longer will such works be locked into insular dialogue with similar works—i.e., works in the history of battles to democratize education at the policy level being locked in dialogue only with works in education policy, works on the history of criminal justice locked in dialogue only with works on prisons. This series invites completely new intellectual debates about the ways in which politics, power, and justice policies evolved over the last century.
Intellectual histories of “justice”
The series encourages the production and publication of studies that historicize the intellectual questions surrounding justice itself. Again, too long the intellectual study of “justice” has been the preserve of philosophers, sociologists, and legal scholars. It is time for historians to engage in these types of discussions and forge a new intellectual history of “justice.” Given the new interest in the field on justice-related topics, such literature is already being produced and the series will aid that production.
Series Editors
Heather Ann Thompson is Frank W Thompson Collegiate Professor of History and Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan. She is the Pulitzer Prize and Bancroft Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy and Whose Detroit: Politics, Labor, and Race in a Modern American City, and she published the edited collection, Speaking Out: Protest and Activism in the 1960s and 70s. She has also written numerous scholarly articles, op-eds, and book chapters on crime, punishment, prison activism, and the current crisis of mass incarceration.
Rhonda Y. Williams is Coleman A. Young Foundation Endowed Chair & Professor, African American Studies Department at Wayne State University. A historian of low-income black women’s and marginalized people’s experiences, everyday lives, politics, and social struggles, Williams’s research contributes to the rethinking of gender, political identity, citizenship, civil rights, black liberation struggles, and interactions with the U.S. state. She is the author of Concrete Demands: The Search for Black Power in the 20th Century and the award-winning The Politics of Public Housing: Black Women’s Struggles against Urban Inequality.
A note from the editors
Our vision for the Justice, Power, and Politics series is that it can bring together and focus intellectual attention on new works of history currently being written on the varied contests for social and economic power and justice and for greater political power and voice. In addition to showcasing such works, the series will also pave the way for far more historically grounded examinations of both the practice and the paradigm of “justice” more specifically.
As series editors we have no litmus test when it comes to what topics or perspectives a given author might bring us for consideration in this series and, indeed, we imagine being pleasantly surprised by the possibilities out there. It is clear to us, though, that scholars are already producing an exciting body of work in this area, and this series should be attractive to them. —Heather Ann Thompson and Rhonda Y. Williams
Editorial Advisory Board
Peniel E. Joseph, Tufts University Daryl Maeda, University of Colorado at Boulder Barbara Ransby, University of Illinois at Chicago Vicki L. Ruiz, University of California at Irvine Marc Stein, York University Dan Berger, University of Washington Bothell
UNC Press Sponsoring Editor
Dawn Durante, Wyndham Robertson Editorial Director [email protected]
Submission Guidelines
For consideration for the Justice, Power, and Politics series, please submit the following proposal materials to Dawn Durante via email:
Cover letter.
Detailed description of the work (and projected length), its contribution to the field, and its appropriateness for the Justice, Power, and Politics series; its relation to similar and competing works, and the intended audience.
A statement of interest in the series (about 1 page) that explains your interest in the series, the project’s justice intervention, its relationship with published books in the series, and its unique contribution to the series.
Annotated table of contents with a paragraph on the contents of each chapter.
CV or resume.
Two polished sample chapters.
We prefer that authors do not submit complete manuscripts unless invited to do so.
