Call for Papers: ‘Protection in Practice: Perspectives from the ‘Global South’’, Submission Deadline- 27 April 2026
‘Protection in Practice: Perspectives from the ‘Global South’’ In response to the call for Special Issue Proposals by the International Journal of Refugee Law, I invite interested authors to submit an abstract for inclusion in a proposal entitled, ‘Protection in Practice: Perspectives from the ‘Global South.’’ Selected abstracts will be submitted for the consideration of the Editorial Board for the journal’s forthcoming Special Issue.
Abstracts should be based on the following rationale: The conceptualisation of ‘protection’ in International Refugee Law has historically been a Eurocentric exercise. By extension, its scope and content has, in significant part, developed with reference to the European context, and has presumed a universal application beyond the region that commonly characterised the law, policy, and practice of protection in the socalled ‘Global South’ as constituting regional ‘contributions’ to protection. This Special Issue Proposal fundamentally challenges the underlying presumptions of regional hierarchy in international protection. As the overwhelming majority of refugees depart from and ultimately remains within States of the ‘Global South’, the role of those vast regions in the on-going construction of protection is not as contributor, but as principal author. Over the past year, the primacy of this role has been compounded by severe reductions in funding to critical protection actors. As the reduction in staff, capability, capacity, and expertise has forced those in the ‘Global South’ to rapidly explore innovative, pragmatic, and sustainable means of providing protection to communities whose numbers remain unaffected by cuts to budgets and personnel, the emerging practice of protection across the ‘Global South’ remains more critical than ever, particularly in light of significantly reduced political and financial support from the ‘Global North.’
I particularly encourage applications from early-career scholars and practitioners, authors from groups currently under-represented in academic publication, and those wishing to reenter academia after a career-break. Please submit the following information via email to sophie.capicchianoyoung@universityofgalway.ie with subject line ‘CfA IJRL’ by Monday, 27 April 2026:
• Full name/s and contact details of author/s, including institutional affiliations
• Title and abstract (maximum 250 words)
• A brief author biography
• Details on the current status of the relevant research, including whether any papers exist in draft form
• Any funding that should be reported
For more details, refer here
