ABOUT

WHY RADICAL NOTES?

A movement in a sense is a struggle over the definition of reality – How reality is constituted? It is this struggle that builds the focus and targets of the movement, informing the praxes towards social transformation. Inherent in this struggle is the act of reclaiming – sense and sensibility, words and meaning…

The word “radical” which in this post-Cold War phase of Global Capitalism or globaloney has been reduced to a general notion characterizing all kinds of extremism and deviancy is one such word that has been time and again reclaimed by the practitioners of social transformation. “Radical” derived from the Latin word, ‘radix’ meaning ‘root’ = ‘basic’ = ‘fundamental’ is a concept that aptly defines a transformatory practice as an endeavor to reveal and target the essence of what are given to us in appearance. Radicalism in this sense is nothing but fundamental transformation rather than politicking in appearances. Further, and formostly, it is the all round critique of the status quo and its genealogies, rather than accepting the disciplinary divide/boundaries that the capitalist system perpetuates in order to control labor-power and labor, our efforts and their fruits.

Radical Notes is just a small endeavor to coordinate the radical voices around the globe, with special focus on South Asia. In our view such focus (which could have been anything) is not just for convenience, given the facilitators’ cultural and intellectual comfort, but also it is needed to concretize any ‘radical’ pursuit. Further, in our view South Asia provides us the opportunity to visualize the reproduction of ‘global’ capitalism and struggle against it in a regional setting. But we must remember such focus is always fluid with the ever-dynamic ‘radical’ needs of the humanity.

SUBMISSION POLICY

We invite serious contributions on any social, cultural, political or economic issue from counter-hegemonic perspectives, which need not be confined to any established socialist and communist current of thought (though these approaches are most welcome). As the editorial concentration for the time being is on movements and conflicts in South Asian societies, we are open to their rigorous, coherent and informative analyses. We repeat, this concentration is strictly editorial, which we as the editors of RN will ensure. Hence, this must not be taken as any barrier for submissions that discuss non-movemental, non-South Asian and theoretical issues. They are all welcome, especially articles that seek to analyse the global trends in socio-political movements.

We would also publish investigative photo and video reports on movements and political economic issues. Thus it is also an invitation for those writers, who wish to provide links and visual aids (charts, graphs, maps etc) to enhance the comprehensibility of their contributions.

There will not be any rejection due to the length of an article, if it comprehensively deals with the issue in hand from perspectives that are within the scope of RN. Accepted articles may be slightly edited for readability, which means that there may be delays in publication.  Only major editorial changes will be discussed with the authors. Further, we will notify the authors once the article is accepted, but will not respond to any query on rejections. We recommend the authors to wait for at least three days before submitting the articles elsewhere.

Our preference will be definitely for previously unpublished articles submitted exclusively to RN, but we will not restrict their wider circulation and publication. The authors are free to republish their articles on websites or in print, if possible with a courtesy to RN. Also, once an article is accepted and published on the website, RN has the right to reprint it in other forms too – in its booklet series (published by Aakar Books) or as a pamphlet or as a reading material etc for meetings, protest programmes and study circles.

Submissions and other queries should be directed to <radicalnotes(at)gmail.com>.