Call for Papers - Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society Special Issue

Special Issue Editors Ashlea Gillon & Bronwyn Carlson invite Indigenous scholars, students and writers globally to contribute to a special issue for Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society entitled,

Indigenous(ly) Fat, Fat(ly) Indigenous.

To be considered for inclusion in this special issue, please send a tentative title, 200-250 word abstract, and current CV to: Ashlea Gillon a.gillon@auckland.ac.nz by October 01, 2024.

Any questions about the topic may be directed to Ashlea at this email.

Those authors invited to submit full papers (5,500 words or fewer, including references) will be notified by December 01, 2024 and will be required to submit a full paper by March 01, 2025

 

Timeline:

  • Initial Invitations to authors for contributions: July-September 2024

  • Deadline for proposals: October 01, 2024

  • Notification of acceptance: December 01, 2024

  • Deadline for Manuscripts: March 01, 2025

  • Review Deadline: May 01, 2025

  • Deadline for revised manuscripts: July 01, 2025

  • Completed issue: October 01, 2025

“He kanohi kitea ka hoki ngā mahara” is a well-known Māori whakataukī (proverb); it encapsulates one of the integral principles of Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) and Kaupapa Māori (Māori philosophy, ways of being, knowing, seeing). It reiterates the importance of being seen, being present, and being remembered, it highlights the value of whakawhanaungatanga (good relationships), and of the ways we Indigenous Peoples relate to each other through presence. When considering this way of conceptualising the significance of (re)visibilisation, we seek to re-think and re-shape our Indigenous knowledge:

He tinana kitea ka hoki ngā mahara

a familiar body, a seen body, causes memories to flow, memories to stir

Here, we re-conceptualise this notion of presence, relationality, and (re)visibilisation of our bodies.

We seek to explore the space of Indigenous fat studies, posing the question: What does Indigenous fat studies look like? Fatness is intersectionally experienced and, for those of us who occupy multiple identities that are minoritised, our experiences of navigating fatness are complex. We invite papers for a special issue of Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society, on Indigenous(ly) Fat – Fat(ly) Indigenous. This special issue will encompass a variety of topics around the conceptualisation, actualisation, and embodiment of Indigenous fat studies and fat Indigeneity and what this may look like to us as Indigenous Peoples.

Please do not hesitate to contact Ashlea with questions or inquiries.

 

Welcome topics include but are not limited to:

  • Developing Indigenous fat studies

  • Indigenous experiences of fatness

  • Indigenous languages of fatness

  • The intersections of fatness, Indigeneity, queerness, disability, age, sexuality

  • Shifts in fat social justice related to Indigenous sovereignty

  • Being Indigenous and fat within social contexts (e.g., relationships, families, legal systems, health and medicine, employment, education, housing, religion, politics, media, etc.)

  • What does fat Indigenous joy, hope, sovereignty, and reclamation look like?

  • Being socially assigned as Indigenous and fat

  • Bodily autonomy, boundary and bodily surveillance, and bodily transitions in the fight for fat Indigenous sovereignty

  • Challenges, oppression, decolonising, and re-Indigenising fat Indigenous experiences and realities

  • Flax-roots-Earth-roots Indigenous fat initiatives and socialisations

  • Building and promoting solidarity for fat Indigeneity

  • The state of legal protections for weight, body size, and shape

  • The role of resilience, resistance, activism, relationships, and sovereignty for fat Indigenous Peoples

  • Necessary intersections, solidarity, and allies in the context of fat Indigeneity (e.g., anti-racist, anti-sexist, etc)

  • Art for fat Indigeneity