Ever after the idea of “the Western civilization” was conceived, some intellectuals, politicians, and religious leaders have spelled doom for it. The “Western world” has been frequently embroiled in societal, ethical and economic crises, some of the most recent being war on terrorism, recession, and the influx of refugees. The rise of populist parties and inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the President of the United States have further fueled narratives of a crisis-ridden West. The themes and narratives of the Western crisis have been recycled habitually and have often been accompanied by, or at least addressed, the idea of the West as a globally triumphant entity with universally applicable values.  Currently, it seems, what is at stake is the “Western” liberal world-order. Recent political changes have created new challenges for liberal internationalism, and subsequently, crisis rhetoric has become a commonplace, but also controversial, part of narratives about the “liberal West” and its survival.

The editors are calling for articles for an edited volume focusing specifically on contemporary economic, ethnic, military, political, socio-cultural, and other crises that have emerged during the last decade, either in narrated or empirically lived reality. We especially encourage perspectives from political and social sciences, contemporary history, cultural studies, international relations, and geopolitics.

Abstract can be sent (max 350 words) to: jukka [dot] jouhki [at] jyu [dot] fi.

Editors: 

Jukka Jouhki, Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä.

Marko Lehti, The Tampere Peace Research Institute, University of Tampere.

Henna-Riikka Pennanen, The John Morton Center for North American Studies, University of Turku

The editors are members of the coordinating team of The West Network, an international interdisciplinary network of scholars.