Call for papers: Staying with Speculation: Natures, Futures, Politics
Global Discourse, volume 10, issue 3
Edited by Luke R. Moffat, Lancaster University (l.moffat@lancaster.ac.uk)

Abstract
In the past decade, speculation has become an increasingly widespread concept in disciplines across the sciences, arts and humanities. Its applications are as diverse as designing urban futures, studying geological phenomena and imagining future participatory politics. That speculative methods and practices often place importance on unpredictability would seem to make the approach unattractive to planning and design. However, speculation is increasingly deployed in shaping environments, policies, cultures and products in direct ways. As a consequence, there is growing interest in disparate, but often overlapping, conceptual, theoretical and practical elements of speculative research methods. As this cross-disciplinary pool of research about speculation grows, questions emerge about its potential, as well as its concrete ramifications. Speculation and speculative methods are often seen as catalysts for change. Staying with Speculation brings together researchers and practitioners from a range of fields to examine the implications and applications of the approach in terms of dealing with core ethical, methodological and practical issues that we face in an era of volatile unpredictability. This is essential since, although there is discussion of speculation in design, sociological and philosophical literatures, exchange between researchers and practitioners is still quite rare. This special issue presents a chance for researchers to share knowledge and build a shared vocabulary across disciplinary boundaries Issues to be examined include:

– the ethical and political questions regarding the deployment of speculation both within and beyond academic contexts
– the implication of speculation on disciplinary boundaries
– the identify of those on whose behalf research practices speculate
– the potential for speculation to be both an inclusive and exclusionary practice
– and the potential for speculative practices to address global challenges such as climate change, urban futures and new political practices

Submission instructions and deadlines
Abstracts of 400 words: 1st April 2019
Articles (solicited on the basis of review of abstracts): 1st July 2019
Publication: September 2019

Instructions for authors
Please submit by email all abstracts and articles to the Guest Editors
Further details: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/journals/global-discourse
Editor contact details: Luke R. Moffat (l.moffat@lancaster.ac.uk)

Journal Aims and Scope
Global Discourse is an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented journal of applied contemporary thought operating at the intersection of politics, international relations, sociology and social policy. The journal’s scope is broad, encouraging interrogation of current affairs with regard to core questions of distributive justice, wellbeing, cultural diversity, autonomy, sovereignty, security and recognition. All issues are themed and aimed at addressing pressing issues as they emerge. Rejecting the notion that publication is the final stage in the research process, Global Discourse seeks to foster discussion and debate between often artificially isolated disciplines and paradigms, with responses to articles encouraged and conversations continued across issues. The journal features a mix of full-length articles, each accompanied by one or more replies, policy papers commissioned by organizations and institutions and book review symposia, typically consisting of three reviews and a reply by the author/s. With an international advisory editorial board consisting of experienced, highly-cited academics, Global Discourse publishes themed issues on topics as they emerge. Authors are encouraged to explore the international dimensions and implications of their work. The journal publishes themed issues consisting of articles, replies and reviews. All submissions must be in response to a specific call for papers. All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing.