Call for Submissions 2011 – Women, Gender and Food Security

Author: Sasha McNicoll

Posted: April 28, 2011

Categories: Food in the News

Women and Environments International Magazine (WEI) is seeking submissions for its upcoming issue on Women, Gender and Food Security for publication in Autumn 2011. The objective of this issue is to critically examine issues related to women, gender and food security. Food security is often considered access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food for maintaining a healthy and active life. Gender is a critical lens for examining the availability, access and use of food, both physically and economically.

Contributors are invited to explore gender perspectives including, but not limited to, the following topics:

1. Climate and environmental change and its impact on women’s food security
2. Changes in women’s food security resulting from natural disasters, environmental degradation and other major environmental events.
3. Impact of international agreements on agriculture (e.g. by World Trade Organization) on women’s food security.
4. Gender and planning for food land preservation.
5. Gender and agricultural policies.
6. Local, national, or regional level perspectives on economic crises and fiscal austerity measures in relation to women and food security.
7. Food security as a social and environmental determinant of women’s health.
8. Intersections of gender and food security in particular marginalized communities, such as indigenous communities.
9. Environmental racism, gender and food security.
10. Distribution and management of food within households and implications for women’s food security.
11. Gender and local community projects to increase food security, e.g. community gardening, neighborhood food co-ops
12. Gendered perspectives on food and/or agricultural co-ops.
13. Women’s activism on food security issues (local, national and/or transnational).
14. Critical examination of gender and organic/local food movements.
15. Gendered examinations of fair trade programs in the context of food security.
16. Gendered perspectives on food security in resource-poor settings, such as refugee or internally displaced persons (IDP) environments.
17. Migration – urban, rural, economic, conflict-related, other – and its impact on women’s food security.
18. Environmental laws and practices relating to women and food security.

WEI aims to gather content from both the North and the South. Submissions may be in the form of critical studies, essays, case studies, book or film reviews, poetry, photography, and or visual art. While we appreciate every submission to WEI, only contributors whose work has been selected will be contacted.

General Information: WEI is a magazine that examines women’s relations to their natural, built, and social environments from feminist and anti-racist perspectives. It has provided a forum for academic research and theory, professional practice and community experience since 1976. Like most scholarly publications, WEI does not pay for contributions but retains a high-quality wide readership so your contribution will reach a wide audience. Upon publication, WEI assumes a non-exclusive, worldwide, and perpetual right to publish and reproduce contributions in any format in and outside the magazine context. This does not preclude contributors from granting permission to publish their materials after publication in WEI provided WEI is acknowledged as the original publisher.

Submissions: Send submission(s) electronically to weimag@yorku.ca using “Women, Gender and Food Security” as your subject heading. Please refer to the Editorial guidelines below.

DEADLINE: JUNE 15, 2011

EDITORIAL GUIDELINES

Feature articles should not exceed 2500 words. Shorter pieces, book and film reviews, poetry and artistic expressions are welcome. All written work must be original and not previously published. Each issue usually contains: Feature articles (1500 – 2500 words); shorter research articles (800-1500 words); Book/film reviews (300 – 600 words) and an “In the Field” section profiling innovative projects and organizations (750-1000 words).

ARTICLES

Articles published in WEI Magazine should be written from a feminist perspective, using gender as a category of analysis. Authors should also consider class, race and cross-cultural dimensions, age, ability, and sexual orientation, among other aspects of socio-cultural diversity. In their submissions, authors should also address explicitly the relationship of women to their environments (broadly defined).Submissions for all sections will be considered. WEI Magazine only publishes original material, with very rare exceptions. Authors need to inform WEI Magazine if they are submitting their manuscripts for publication elsewhere.

STYLE

All articles submitted to WEI Magazine must be written in a journalistic style, in a clear, easy to understand format that will capture the interest of a diverse audience. Theoretical references and concepts should be explained in plain language. Important sources and quotes must be acknowledged within the text instead of Foot or End Notes, or included as “Further Resources” and limited to six resources. Texts should be listed by Author, Title, Publisher, Place and Year of Publication. The use of subheadings is recommended for feature articles.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviews are assigned or accepted based on the individual issue themes. WEI Magazine also includes 2 – 3 paragraph summary listings of new publications. Book Reviews should be lively, highly readable, and evaluate a book from a feminist perspective relevant to the theme of a particular issue.

While thoughtful criticism is encouraged, the review should be constructive in its style and include the name of author(s)/editor(s) and publishers, the publishing date and place, the cost of the book in Canadian currency, at least a 300 DPI electronic version of the cover image, and the name and two sentence biography of the reviewer.

SUBMISSIONS

Submissions must include word count at the bottom of the last page of the manuscript as well as 50 word (maximum) biography of the author and further reading suggestions where appropriate. Authors should indicate whether artwork (photographs, illustrations, diagrams) is available to accompany their submission if published. WEI encourages submissions with visual aids. The author’s name, mailing address, email and telephone number must appear on the manuscript. Please indicate whether the author’s contact information may be included at the bottom of the article so that readers may follow up on ideas or projects.

POETRY/ARTWORK

Feminist poetry submissions are welcome and should relate to the issue theme. WEI Magazine features an artist in each issue and gladly considers freelance submissions of photographs and illustrations. Visual art should reflect, but is not limited to, the theme of an issue. Electronic photo submissions must have at least 300 DPI resolutions. Please provide captions and information on all photographs and images.

TIMELINES

Authors/artists will be notified when a submission is provisionally accepted for publication (please note that because this is a volunteer run publication, time lapses between initial receipt of material and review for potential publication can be up to 12 weeks). If a submission is provisionally accepted for publication, authors may be asked to make revisions as per the recommendations of the editors. Recommendations will be communicated to the author in as clear a manner as possible. Authors should revise their work and resubmit it to the issue committee by the deadline specified. Upon a second review of the submission, the editors will contact the author with further details and requirements for publication (date, additional changes, etc.).