Justice, Power and Resistance

Justice, Power and Resistance is an international, peer-reviewed journal promoting critical analysis and connecting theory, politics and activism. Working towards social justice, state accountability and decarceration, the journal is primarily a vehicle to make accessible and advance challenging research and scholarship that can be utilised to critically inform contemporary debates and policies. Originally based within the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control, the journal invites academics, practitioners and activists to think critically about the concepts of justice and power, and what the implications of these are for the lives of people most affected by social harms. Read more about Justice, Power and Resistance.

 

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Aims and scope
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Testimonials
Cover image credit
Contact us

Aims and scope

Justice, Power and Resistance is an international, peer-reviewed journal promoting critical analysis and connecting theory, politics and activism. Working towards social justice, state accountability and decarceration, the journal is primarily a vehicle to make accessible and advance challenging research and scholarship that can be utilised to critically inform contemporary debates and policies. Originally based within the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control, the journal invites academics, practitioners and activists to think critically about the concepts of justice and power, and what the implications of these are for the lives of people most affected by social harms. The focus on resistance is reflective of the endeavour to move this critical knowledge to social action, to harness ways that crimes and harms of the powerful in particular can be resisted, and to support wider understandings of how to mitigate penal expansionism and mitigate harms and violence.

The editors welcome theoretical, normative and empirical studies from interdisciplinary perspectives including sociology, zemiology, geography, law, history, criminology, penology, philosophy, social policy and social theory from scholars and activists. The journal is also committed to enhancing communication and collaboration across critical and radical networks. Consequently, it welcomes open submissions in the following forms:

  • Research articles of 6,000 - 8,000 words (including references, notes, tables and figures)
  • Interventions (including short papers, campaign updates, personal reflections and (auto)biographical accounts) of up to 5,000 words (including references, notes, tables and figures)
  • Book reviews of up to 2,000 words (including references, notes, tables and figures)

The journal also publishes and welcomes ideas for themed special issues

The scope of the journal includes a range of topics including the critical analysis of social harms; theories of state power, authority and legitimacy; gendered and racialised violence; the politics of social control; class, poverty and marginalisation; the legacies of colonialism, neo-colonialism and post colonialism; penal policies and penal practices; harms of the powerful; criminalisation; comparative studies and internationalist standpoints; abolitionist perspectives, social movements engaged in direct struggles of resistance and contestation; interventionist strategies and radical alternatives promoting human rights, social justice and democratic accountability.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion statement outlines the ways in which we seek to ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion are integral to all aspects of our publishing, and how we might encourage and drive positive change. 

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Testimonials 

“This journal is an essential purchase, and will continue to bridge the gap between academics, practitioners and activists in a way not seen by academic journals.”

Craig Kelly, Birmingham City University, UK

"By interrogating the multi-dimensional problem of harm, this journal sheds much needed light on the scale and scope of power, and in the process, reinvigorates debates about the role of resistance in the reclamation of justice" 

Bruce Arrigo, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA

Justice, Power and Resistance will provide a vital space that brings together innovative empirical research, critical thought, and support for social action across the globe.” 

Keir Irwin-Rogers, The Open University, UK

Cover image credit

Original cover image courtesy of Victor Serri (La Directa, Barcelona) and modified with his permission.

Contact us

Editorial enquiries:

Editorial office: jprjournal@outlook.com

Open acces, subscriptions and free trials:

Policy Press: pp-journals@bristol.ac.uk

Read our instructions for authors for guidance on how to prepare your submissions. The instructions include the following: 

What are we looking for?
How to submit
Editorial review process
Ethical guidelines
Copyright and permissions
Style
Alt-text
References
English language editing service
Open Access
Self-archiving and institutional repositories
How to maximise the impact of your article
Contact us

Visit our journal author toolkit for resources and advice to support you through the publication process and beyond.

What are we looking for?

  • Research articles: Research articles of between 6- 8,000 words (including references, notes, tables and figures), exploring issues linked to the Journal’s themes of ‘Justice, Power and Resistance’ in an original and thought-provoking way.
  • Interventions: Short papers, campaign updates, personal reflections and (auto)biographical accounts of up to 5,000 words (including references, notes, tables and figures), intended to inspire and support social change and the mitigation of various forms of harm. Interventions are reviewed by members of the Editorial team.
  • Book reviews: Up to 2,000 word (including references, notes, tables and figures) evaluative summaries of books, identifying their contributions to the broad field of harm, ‘deviance’ and social control. All reviews must provide the following information about the books reviewed: Authors, title, year of publication, publisher, page extent, format (i.e. hardback, paperback, e-book etc.), ISBN, price. Book reviews do not carry abstracts. If prompted for an abstract by the online submission system, please enter ‘N/A’.

How to submit an article

All submissions should be made online via the Justice, Power and Resistance Editorial Manager website: https://www.editorialmanager.com/jprj/default1.aspx 

Editorial Manager

Manuscripts must be in Word or Rich Text Format, not pdf. New users should first create an account, specify their areas of interest and provide full contact details.

Preparing your anonymised manuscript

Your initial submission must consist of the following separate files:

  1. A cover page including: the article title, author name(s) and affiliations, the article abstract (up to 250 words), up to 5 key words/short phrases, and the article word count including references. A cover page template is available to download here.
  2. A fully anonymised manuscript which does not include any of the information included in the cover page. It should not include any acknowledgments, funding details, or conflicts of interest that would identify the author(s). References to the authors' own work should be anonymised as follows: "Author's own, [year]". Please note that submissions that have not been sufficiently anonymised will be returned.
  3. If you have any Figures and Tables these must be uploaded as separate files at the end of the manuscript. Please indicate where they should be placed in the text by inserting: ‘Figure X here’ and provide numbers, titles and sources where appropriate.
  4. In order to improve our accessibility for people with visual impairments, we are now required to ask authors to provide a brief description known as alt text to describe any visual content such as photos, illustrations or figures. It will not be visible in the article but is embedded into the images so a PDF reader can read out the descriptions. Guidance on how to write this is available here: Bristol University Press | Alt-text guidance for authors.

For help submitting an article via Editorial Manager, please view our online tutorial.

Once a submission has been conditionally accepted, you will be invited to submit a final, non-anonymised version.

Checklist: what to include in your final, accepted non-anonymised manuscript

A cover page including:

  1. Title: short and concise running title and, if necessary, a (short) informative subtitle;
  2. Author names and affiliations (institution affiliation and country only, no department details required);
  3. Abstract: no longer than 250 words, outlining the central question, approach/method, findings and take home message;
  4. Up to 5 keywords;

The main manuscript including:

  1. The non-anonymised text of your article: 6,000 - 8,000 words for Research Articles, 2,000 for Interventions or Book Review submissions.
  2. Key messages: Each research article must include 3-4 ‘key messages’ summarising the main messages from the paper in up to four bullet points. The contribution made by the paper to the field should be clear from these key messages. Each bullet point must be less than 100 characters. These points may be used to promote your article on social media.
  3. Funding details: list any funding including the grant numbers you have received for the research covered in your article as follows: ‘This work was supported by the [Funding Agency] under Grant [number xxxx].’
  4. Conflict of interest statement: please declare any possible conflicts of interest, or state ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’ if there are none.
  5. Acknowledgements: acknowledge people who have provided you with any substantial assistance or advice with collecting the data, developing your ideas, editing or any other comments to develop your argument or text.
  6. Figures and Tables: should be submitted as separate files. Figures should ideally be in an Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) file format. Please indicate where figures and tables should be placed in the text by inserting: ‘Figure/Table X here’ and provide numbers, titles and sources (where appropriate).
  7. In order to improve our accessibility for people with visual impairments, we are now required to ask authors to provide a brief description known as alt text to describe any visual content such as photos, illustrations or figures. It will not be visible in the article but is embedded into the images so a PDF reader can read out the descriptions. Guidance on how to write this is available here: Bristol University Press | Alt-text guidance for authors.
  8. Supplementary data: We recommend that any supplementary data is hosted in a data repository (such as figshare) for maximum exposure, and is cited as a reference in the article. Short supplementary items can be included as appendices to the article.
  9. Journal Contributor Agreement: please upload a scanned copy of the completed and signed journal contributor agreement with your final non-anonymised manuscript. The agreement can be downloaded here.

Editorial review process

All submissions are first desk-reviewed by the editor(s) who will assess whether the manuscript fits the aims and scope as well as the quality standards of the journal. Papers that are selected to be sent out for review will be evaluated through double anonymous peer review by at least two referees. Justice, Power and Resistance aims to return the reviews along with an initial decision within two months of submission.

Please also see our Journals Editorial Policies.

Copyright and permissions

Justice, Power and Resistance is published by Policy Press in association with the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control. Articles are considered for publication on the understanding that on acceptance the author(s) grant(s) Policy Press the exclusive right and licence to publish the article. Copyright remains with the author(s) or other original copyright owners and we will acknowledge this in the copyright line that appears on the published article.

Authors will be asked to sign a copyright agreement to this effect. All authors should agree to the copyright assignment. For jointly authored articles the corresponding author may sign on behalf of co-authors provided that they have obtained the co-authors' consent for copyright assignment. When submitting online, the copyright assignment agreement is considered to be signed when the corresponding author checks the relevant box. The journal contributor agreement can be downloaded here.

Where copyright is not owned by the author(s), the corresponding author is responsible for obtaining the consent of the copyright holder. This includes figures, tables, and excerpts. Evidence of this permission should be provided to Bristol University Press. General information on rights and permissions can be found here.

To request permission to reproduce any part of articles published in Justice, Power and Resistance, please email: bup-permissions@bristol.ac.uk. For information on what is permissible use for different versions of your article please see our policy on self archiving and institutional repositories.

Ethical guidelines

At Policy Press we are committed to upholding the highest standards of review and publication ethics in our journals. Policy Press is a member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE), and will take appropriate action in cases of possible misconduct in line with COPE guideance.

Find out more about our ethical guidelines.

Style

  • British English spelling and punctuation is preferred.
  • Non-discriminatory language is mandatory. See our guidelines to sensitive language (appendix C of document).
  • Explanatory notes should be kept to a minimum. If it is necessary to use them, they must be numbered consecutively in the text and listed at the end of the article. Please do not embed notes in the text.
  • Please do not embed bibliographic references in the text, footnotes, live links or macros; the final submitted file should be clear of track changes and ready for print.
  • Tables and charts should be separated from the text and submitted in a Word or Excel file, with their placement in the text clearly indicated by inserting: ‘Table X here’. Please provide numbers, titles and sources (where appropriate).
  • Figures, diagrams and maps should be separated from the text and, ideally, submitted in an Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) file. Figures created in Word or Excel are acceptable in those file formats. If the figures, diagrams and maps are in other formats (i.e. have been pasted into a Word file rather than created in it) please contact bup-journalsproduction@bristol.ac.uk for advice. Please indicate where figures should be placed in the text, by inserting: ‘Figure X here’ and provide numbers, titles and sources (where appropriate).
  • A comprehensive style guide can be found here (Editorial and Production Guidelines)

Alt-text

In order to improve our accessibility for people with visual impairments, we are now required to ask authors to provide a brief description known as alt text to describe any visual content such as photos, illustrations or figures. It will not be visible in the article but is embedded into the images so a PDF reader can read out the descriptions. See our guidance on writing alt-text.

References

 

Download the Endnote output style for Policy Press and Bristol University Press Journals.

Policy Press uses a custom version of the Harvard system of referencing:

  • In-text citations: give the author’s surname followed by year of publication in brackets;
  • If there is more than one reference to the same author and year, this should be distinguished by a, b, c, d and so on being added to the year.
  • In lists of references given within the text, place in chronological order, from old to new. For example (Smith, 1989; Jones, 1990; Amler, 2002; Brown, 2007).
  • List all references in full at the end of the article and remove any references not cited in the text;
  • Names should be listed in the references as cited, for example, surnames containing de, De, de la, Le, van, von, Van, Von should be listed under ‘D’, ‘L’ and ‘V’ respectively. If in doubt, check the author ORCID or a recognised database such as Scopus or Web of Science to verify their most known surname.
  • For works with multiple authors, list all names up to six. For works with more than six authors, list the first six names followed by ‘et al’.
  • Book and journal titles should be in italics;
  • Website details should be placed at the end of the reference;
  • Ibid/op cit: please do not use; we would prefer that you repeated the information.
  • Immediately before submitting your final version, check that all references cited in the text are in the reference list and that references in the reference list are cited correctly in the text.

Examples

Book:
Bengtson, V.L. and Lowenstein, A. (2003) Global Aging and its Challenge to Families, New Jersey, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

Darling, D. (2010) Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists, Bristol: Policy Press. 

Book with editor:
Bengtson, V.L. and Lowenstein, A. (eds) (2003) Global Aging and its Challenge to Families, 5th edn, New Jersey, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

Chapter in book or in multi-authored publication:
Bengtson, V.L. and Lowenstein, A. (2003) Citizenship in action: the lived experiences of citizens with dementia who campaign for social change, in R. Smith, R. Means and K. Keegan (eds) Global Aging and its Challenge to Families, New Jersey, NJ: Transaction Publishers, pp 305–26.

Journal reference:
Williamson, E. and Abrahams, H. A. (2014) A review of the provision of intervention programmes for female victims and survivors of domestic abuse in the UK, Journal of Women and Social Work, 29(1): 178-191. doi: doi.org/10.1177/0886109913516452

Jeffrey, C., Williams, E., de Araujo, P., Fortin-Rochberg, R., O'Malley, T., Hill, A-M., et al (2009) The challenge of politics, Policy & Politics, 36(4): 545–57. doi: doi.org/10.1177/0886108913516454

Website reference:
Womensaid (2016) What is domestic abuse?, https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/.

Management Board

Co-Editors

Nasrul Ismail, University of Bristol, UK
Ida Nafstad, Lund University, Sweden

Consulting Editors

Vicky Canning, Lancaster University, UK
Christina Pantazis, University of Bristol, UK

Associate Editor

Sergio Grossi, Universidad Complutense Madrid, Spain

Interventions Section Editors

Bree Carlton, University of Melbourne, Australia
Agnieszka Martynowicz, Edgehill University, UK

Review Editors

Martin Joormann, Lund University, Sweden
Ashley Rogers, University of Stirling, UK

International Editorial Collective

Biko Agozino, Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, USA
Vanessa Barker, Stockholm Univerty, Sweden
Andrea Beckmann, Independent Researcher, UK 
Emma Bell, Université de Savoie Mont Blanc, France
Gilles Chantraine, University of Lille and the French National Centre for Scientific Research, France
Victoria Cooper, Open University, UK
Mary Corcoran, Keele University, UK
Caglar Dolek, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, USA
Christina Ericson, County Administrative Board of Stockholm County, Sweden 
Giulia Fabini, University of Bolgona, Italy 
Valeria Ferraris, University of Turin, Italy
Sam Fletcher, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Alejandro Forero Cuellar, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
Liv S. Gaborit, Lund University, Sweden
Stratos Georgoulas, University of the Aegean, Greece
Joanna Gilmore, University of York, UK
David R Goyes, University of Oslo, Norway
Andrew Jefferson, Danish Institute Against Torture, Denmark 
Christos Kouroutzas, University of the Aegean, Greece
Margaret Malloch, University of Stirling, UK
Linda Moore, Univeristy of Ulster, UK
Laura Piancentini, University of Strathclyde, UK
Ana Rodas, Western Sydney University, Australia
Simone Santorso, University of Sussex, UK
David Scott, Open University, UK
Phil Scraton, Queen's University Belfast, UK
Sophie Serrano, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Joe Sim, Liverpool John Moores University, UK 
Katja Simoncic, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ann Singleton, University of Bristol, UK
Ragnhild Sollund, University of Oslo, Norway
Lizzy Stanley, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Luca Sterchele, University of Padova, Italy
Steve Tombs, Open University, UK
Sarah van Praet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Valeria Vegh Weis, Freie Universitat Berlin/Buenos Aires University, Germany/Argentina
Aimilia Voulvoul, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece 
Tony Ward, University of Northumbria, UK
Richard Wild, University of Greenwich, UK
Dean Wilson, University of Sussex, UK 
Per Jörgen Ystehede, University of Oslo, Norway

We currently have two calls for papers: 'Technologies of Oppression, Technologies of Resistance' and 'Violence and Urban Transformations in Turkey'

Call for special issue papers – Technologies of Oppression, Technologies of Resistance

The editors of Justice, Power and Resistance invite submissions for a special issue based on the theme of European Group for Deviance and Social Control’s 52nd  annual conference: Technologies of Oppression, Technologies of Resistance.

Abstract submission deadline: 15 September 2024

From human interactions in everyday life to automated policy, technology has hundreds of facets to be observed, interpreted, and discussed. While it is a truism that states and corporations use new technologies as a means of social control, the ways in which it happens are far from straightforward. Technology is also inherent in the shaping and negotiation of new norms, defining which transgressions are possible, and how they are carried out. Technology offers the opportunity for subversion and engagement, and understanding how it works sometimes makes the difference between empowerment and oppression. And prevailing techno-optimistic and techno-pessimistic discourses deserve critique for diverting attention from the actual problems at hand.

What are we looking for?

This special issue of Justice, Power and Resistance will critically explore the role of technology in and the ways in which technology enables oppressive practices or how it can prevent harm and facilitate resistance. In particular we invite submissions addressing (but not limited to):

  • Use of technology in and by systems of justice, policing, and punishment
  • Capital and the technologies of war
  • Power differentials ingrained in technologies
  • Social harms of technological solutions
  • Migration, digital and biotechnological colonialism and resistance to it
  • Technological empowerment of dissent and activism
  • The impact of technology on bodies, genders, sexualities, and biological worldviews
  • Theorising technology in studies of deviance and social control
  • Technologies in critical pedagogy

The list is far from exhaustive. We hope that these directions will find resonance no matter what specific area of research you are working in. You can discuss your contribution informally with the Co-Editors of the journal, Ida Nafstad or Nasrul Ismail: they welcome queries about your article and its suitability, either in person at the conference or by email (jprjournal@outlook.com).

We invite submissions of Research Articles, Interventions and Book Reviews from scholars, practitioners and activists. 

Information for contributors

Abstracts (250 words) should be sent to jprjournal@outlook.com by 15 September 2024.

Authors will be notified whether their abstract has been selected for the special issue by 15 October.

Please note: All research articles will undergo the Journal’s standard double anonymous peer review process, once the full version has been submitted. Please see our author instructions for guidance on preparing and submitting your full article.

If you would like to discuss your submission please contact the journal editors at jprjournal@outlook.com.

Key dates and deadlines 

  • Deadline for extended article abstracts or draft articles: 15 September 2024
  • Notification of the editors’ initial decision: 15 October 2024
  • Deadline to submit full research article: 12 February 2025
  • Notification to authors of first decisions including revisions to be made: 15 May 2025
  • Deadline to submit first revisions: 15 July 2025
  • Further revisions, as needed: 15 August 2025
  • Publication: JPR aims to publish the Special Issue in late 2025

Call for special issue papers – Violence and Urban Transformations in Turkey

Guest edited by Caglar Dolek (Cal Poly Humboldt, USA) and Nicholas Jon Crane  (University of Wyoming, USA)

Abstract submission deadline: 25 October 2024

Turkish cities have been objects and subjects of social and geographical transformation, coercion, and capital accumulation, since the early years of the Turkish Republic. Urban space in Turkey remains a key site for capitalist production and social reproduction, constructions of identity and difference, the management of social contradictions and antagonisms, spatialisations and transformations of government and state power, and productions of social harm and vulnerability. Histories of industrial policy, economic development, racialisation, nation-building, rural-to-urban migration, displacement, ecological disruption, revolt, and counterinsurgency converge in our contemporary conjuncture, which we propose to examine for how violence, in a variety of forms, has inhered and still inheres in urban spaces of Turkey.

We seek contributions for a special issue of Justice, Power and Resistance (projected publication in late 2026), examining relationships between capitalism, state power, urban space, and violence in Turkish cities. Our focus on forms of violence that inhere in urbanization is not limited to spectacular events (e.g., the production of vulnerability to “natural” hazards, in the February 2023 earthquakes, or the neighborhood-scale violence of ultranationalists and other reactionary political formations). We are also attentive to violence in urban everyday life, variably felt along axes of social and racial/ethnic difference, and uneven across and between neighborhoods and communities. We envision a collection of articles focused on Turkish cities that highlights the significance of historically and geographically specific study of these relationships while at the same time revealing conceptual and theoretical implications that derive from a focus on examples from Turkey. In a nutshell, the focus of this special issue includes, but is not limited to, the following themes: 

  • “Natural” hazards, neoliberal urban governance, and the production of social vulnerability
  • “New extractivism”, neoliberal authoritarianism, and geographies of violence
  • The Kurdish movement, counterinsurgency, and military urbanism
  • Contentious politics and revolutionary violence 
  • The military-industrial complex, urban landscapes, and technologies of violence
  • Specific actors and strategies in legal and extralegal violence 
  • Constructions of “the refugee crisis” and formations of racialised labor in urban contexts
  • Racialised and gendered spaces of violence
  •  Relationships between everyday violence, urban marginality, and governmental strategy 
  • Formations and contradictions of proletarian violence

We invite submissions of Research Articles. Please note: All research articles will undergo the Journal’s standard double anonymous peer review process, once the full version has been submitted. Please see our author instructions for guidance on preparing and submitting your full article.

Information for contributors

Abstracts (250 words) should be sent to the guest editors by 25 October 2024:

Dr Caglar Dolek caglar.dolek@humboldt.edu
Dr Nicholas Jon Crane ncrane@uwyo.edu

Authors will be notified whether their abstract has been selected for the special issue by 1 December 2024.

Please note: All research articles will undergo the Journal’s standard double anonymous peer review process, once the full version has been submitted. Please see our author instructions for guidance on preparing and submitting your full article.

If you would like to discuss your submission please contact the guest editors of the special issue, Dr Caglar Dolek (caglar.dolek@humboldt.edu) and Dr Nicholas Jon Crane (ncrane@uwyo.edu). 

Key dates and deadlines  

  • Deadline for abstracts: 25 October 2024 
  • Notification to authors of the editors’ initial decision: 1 December  2024
  • Deadline to submit full research article: 6 June 2025
  • Notification to authors of first decisions including revisions to be made: 1 October  2025
  • Deadline to submit first revisions: 1 December  2025 
  • Anticipated publication in Issue 3 of the year 2026
     

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