The Graphic Justice Research Alliance (GJRA) is delighted to announce a call for papers for its 2020 annual conference to be hosted by Middlesex University London.

The conference will be held online on Tuesday 8 December 2020. It promises to be an exciting event; accessible and relevant to scholars, artists, practitioners, policymakers, writers, and the general public alike. The GJRA is a multidisciplinary research network exploring the crossover between law and justice and comics of all kinds.

The theme for Graphic Justice Discussions 2020 is ‘Graphic Justice in Times of Crisis.’ Taken broadly, this theme draws attention to how comics and graphic novels engage with the connections and ruptures in society and examine issues surrounding major societal threats and upheavals. Submissions may adopt a theoretical approach, can explore issues surrounding the comics form, or may analyse a specific comic or graphic novel series or individual issue. Other methods or approaches also welcome.

Papers may examine themes including (but not limited to):

  • Pandemics and viruses (e.g. the X-Men’s mutant plague)
  • Human rights discourse and visual representations
  • Race and Black Lives Matter issues (Wakanda Forever!)
  • Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity
  • Social unrest and upheaval
  • Climate change, environmental disasters or extinction events
  • Utopian and dystopian worlds and their relationship with the law
  • State crime and abuses of power
  • Rogue states and tyranny
  • Emergency-based legality and the compulsion of legality

To apply, send 250-word abstracts and up to 6 keywords to Angus Nurse by 19 October 2020: a.nurse@mdx.ac.uk

The event will be free to GJRA members, £10 to non-members. Join the GJRA at graphicjustice.org

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