JOLLAS Special Issue Call for Manuscripts
Latines in the U.S. South: Disrupting Historical Erasure and Master Narratives.
Guest Editors: Drs. Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos and Sharina Maíllo Pozo, University of Georgia and Yami Rodriguez, Emory University
The Latine population in the U.S. South has increased faster than any other U.S. region in the last 25 years. There has been a recent interest in researching the “new Latino diaspora in the South” especially immigrant newcomer populations leading up to and post 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia. However, less scholarship and research has been conducted to examine the roots and evolution of Latines in the South from the 1500s to the 1980s. We contend that this critical void has led to historical erasure and misleading master narratives about the Latine community's existence, experience, and contributions to the U.S. South. Although there has been recent research reexamining the racialization of Latines in the South and a revisiting of their histories, most specific areas of inquiry are still woefully under-researched.
The purpose of the special issue is to critically (re)examine and challenge the mainstream historical interpretations of the U.S. South, which focuses on the “Black and White paradigm” yet largely ignores Latines. Given the current social junctures, reconstructing and unearthing new narratives of the U.S. South centering Latines is vital to better understand and contextualize the contemporary conditions of Latine communities in the U.S. South and to depict the history of the U.S. South more accurately. This special issue will be a useful resource to shift the scholarship on Latines in the U.S. South.
We are particularly looking for manuscripts that explicitly attempt to interrupt historical erasure and master narratives of Latines in the U.S. South from different disciplines (history, anthropology, political science, education, demography, geography, cultural studies, ethnic studies, immigration/migration, sociology, and other related areas). Although we will accept scholarship that focuses on any period from colonial to contemporary times, we are particularly interested in timeframes that have been under-researched. We are especially interested in manuscripts that focus on a specific Latine community (i.e., Salvadorians), but broader and meta-analysis are also welcome.
This special issue will contribute to furthering the empirical (oral histories, ethnographies, archival analysis, secondary analysis, reviews of the literature, amongst others) and theoretical (racialization, structural inequality, intersectionality, critical theories, amongst others) understanding of Latines in the U.S. South through an interdisciplinary volume. The main objective to this special issue is to disrupt the historical erasure and master narratives of Latines in the U.S. South and to shed light on the lived realities and contributions of the Latine community across a variety of geographies (across states in U.S. South, Urban, Rural, suburban), nationalities (U.S. born, Mexican, Central American, Caribbean and South American) and community contexts (labor force, daily life, church, schools, migration/immigration).
To accomplish these goals, we seek manuscript abstract submissions from established and emerging scholars across the social sciences and humanities. The structured abstracts (no more than 500 words) are due by March 1, 2025. Potential authors will be notified by March 15th if they will be invited to submit a full-length manuscript. All manuscripts are due by August 31, 2025 and will undergo a blind peer review process. The intent is to publish this special issue in the Journal of Latino/Latin American Studies (JOLLAS) before the end of 2026.
Please direct questions to any of the guest editors. Abstracts should be directed to Dr. Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, University of Georgia, at [email protected].