Scope of Contributions
Zeitgeist welcomes a variety of scholarly genres including, but not limited to:
a) Research articles presenting original theoretical or empirical work.
b) Review essays synthesising major debates or paradigmatic shifts in a given field.
c) Conceptual papers offering new frameworks or methodological interventions.
d) Critical reflections, dialogues, and interviews with scholars and public intellectuals.
e) Book reviews engaging with recent and significant publications in relevant domains.
Zeitgeist is envisioned as a dynamic, inclusive, and forward-looking academic journal that strives to elevate critical scholarship, foster academic community, and advance epistemic justice. It seeks to become a leading platform for interdisciplinary discourse and to meaningfully contribute to the evolving landscape of global research in the humanities and social sciences.
Disciplinary and Thematic Scope
The intellectual vision of Zeitgeist: An Interdisciplinary Journal in Humanities and Social Sciences is grounded in a commitment to disciplinary breadth and thematic inclusivity. The journal acknowledges that the pressing challenges of the contemporary world, ranging from ecological devastation and technological disruption to social inequality and cultural transformation, cannot be fully apprehended through isolated disciplinary lenses. Accordingly, Zeitgeist is conceived as a scholarly platform that encourages transdisciplinary dialogue, methodological experimentation, and the decolonisation of knowledge structures. The journal welcomes submissions from both established and emerging scholars working across a wide array of fields within the humanities and social sciences. Submissions must be theoretically informed, methodologically rigorous, and reflective of original research or critical synthesis. Contributions that foreground intersectional, marginalised, and non-Western epistemologies are particularly encouraged. Below is an indicative, though not exhaustive, outline of the disciplinary and thematic domains within the journal’s purview:
(A) Humanities
1. History
a) Political, social, economic, intellectual, and environmental histories.
b) Subaltern, oral, memory-based, and indigenous historiographies.
c) Colonialism, post-coloniality, decolonisation, and resistance movements.
d) Regional histories of Northeast India, South Asia, and comparative transnational perspectives.
2. Philosophy
a) Epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and aesthetics.
b) Political philosophy, philosophy of science, philosophy of language.
c) Non-Western traditions including classical Indian, Buddhist, and Indigenous philosophies.
d) Environmental ethics, phenomenology, existentialism, and critical theory.
3. Literary Studies
a) Comparative literature and world literatures.
b) Postcolonial literatures, Indigenous literatures, diaspora literatures.
c) Feminist and queer literatures; subcultural and countercultural narratives.
d) Literary theory, narratology, genre studies, and cultural textual analysis.
4. Linguistics
a) Sociolinguistics, multilingualism, language contact and change.
b) Language endangerment, revitalisation, and linguistic human rights.
c) Applied linguistics, discourse analysis, pragmatics, and syntax.
d) Translation studies and translingual practices.
5. Religious and Theological Studies
a) Comparative theology, ritual studies, philosophy of religion.
b) Indigenous spiritualities and syncretic traditions.
c) Textual interpretation and hermeneutics.
d) Religion and politics, secularism, fundamentalism, and interfaith dialogue.
6. Cultural, Aesthetic, and Visual Studies
a) Aesthetic theory, iconography, performance and theatre studies.
b) Film studies, television, photography, and popular visual cultures.
c) Fashion studies, material culture, and everyday aesthetics.
d) Digital cultures, gaming, and new media ecologies.
(B) Social Sciences
1. Sociology
a) Social stratification, caste, class, gender, race, and ethnicity.
b) Urban and rural sociology, sociology of education, and social change.
c) Sociology of knowledge, science and technology, and deviance.
d) Environmental sociology, medical sociology, and sociology of the body.
2. Anthropology
a) Cultural and social anthropology, kinship and ritual studies.
b) Medical anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and visual ethnography.
c) Ethnographic fieldwork, reflexive methodologies, and autoethnography.
d) Indigenous knowledge systems and museum anthropology.
3. Political Science and International Relations
a) Political theory, governance, state formation, and democratic practices.
b) Geopolitics, diplomacy, and international institutions.
c) Nationalism, citizenship, identity, and civil society.
d) South Asian politics, insurgency, and post-conflict transitions.
4. Economics
a) Development economics, political economy, informal economies.
b) Feminist economics, labour studies, and globalisation.
c) Ecological economics, environmental sustainability, and rural development.
d) Behavioural and institutional economics.
5. Law and Legal Studies
a) Jurisprudence, constitutional law, and legal anthropology.
b) Access to justice, human rights, and customary law.
c) Critical legal studies, transitional justice, and legal pluralism.
d) Law, gender, caste, and marginalised communities.
6. Education
a) Critical pedagogy, curriculum design, and educational policy.
b) Multilingual education, inclusion, and disability studies.
c) Gender in education, access, and equity.
d) ICTs in education and alternative pedagogical practices.
7. Psychology
a) Cognitive, developmental, and cultural psychology.
b) Social psychology, mental health, and trauma studies.
c) Educational and counselling psychology.
d) Psychology of marginalised and neurodiverse populations.
(C) Interdisciplinary and Emerging Fields
a) Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Studies: Feminist theory, intersectionality, queer temporality, masculinities, trans identities.
b) Indigenous and Tribal Studies: Customary knowledge, land rights, resistance politics, oral traditions.
c) Environmental Humanities: Climate ethics, ecocriticism, animal studies, posthumanist thought.
d) Migration and Diaspora Studies: Statelessness, displacement, diasporic identities, border regimes.
e) Peace and Conflict Studies: Transitional justice, reconciliation, ethnic conflict, insurgency.
f) Media and Communication Studies: Critical media theory, journalism ethics, digital publics, algorithmic governance.
g) Digital Humanities: Data ethics, computational analysis, interactive storytelling, network theory.
h) Science, Technology, and Society (STS): Techno-politics, innovation, surveillance, indigenous technologies.
i) Caste and Social Justice: Dalit studies, Ambedkarite thought, caste in law and politics.
j) Borderland Studies: Statelessness, cartographic anxiety, identity on the margins.
Zeitgeist is especially interested in research that destabilises canonical assumptions, decentres Eurocentric epistemologies, and foregrounds the lived experiences and intellectual traditions of marginalised communities. The journal actively encourages collaborative, multi-author, and inter-institutional submissions and values both qualitative and mixed-method approaches.
