CFP Special Issue "Ideas in Movement: Transnational and Women’s History Perspectives"

 Please, consider contributing to the Special Issue of Lychnos - Annual of the Swedish History of Science Society.

Special Issue "Ideas in Movement: Transnational and Women’s History Perspectives" (Special attention will be paid to the underrepresented and understudied regional contexts, like Nordic, Baltic Sea region, South-Eastern, Central European or East European regions.)

Guest editors: Helena Bergman and Yuliya Yurchuk

Languages of publication are English and Swedish.

The purpose of the thematical issue is to shed light on women’s role in transnational circulation of ideas and knowledge production. While history of ideas often focuses on canonical thinkers, including “great” women, many women’s contributions to the field of intellectual history remain in the shadow. This thematic issue seeks to fill in this gap and expand the scope of discussion on women’s role in the history of ideas beyond the great and well-known names. The issue aims to consider how gender influences the production, transmission, and reception of ideas. More concretely, the issue’s aim is to work forward to a better understanding of women’s role in the production and circulation of ideas, their contribution to science and knowledge across all kinds of borders: national, cultural, societal, ideological, etc. By focusing on women’s history in this way the Issue aims to highlight the role of women in bringing a societal change as well as cast light on the women’s role in intellectual exchange and development of sciences and ideas.

In a broader context, the issue aims to contribute with new knowledge to the discussion on how women thinkers influenced the intellectual landscape transnationally and how their ideas were received and adapted to different contexts and by different communities in different contexts. Special attention will be paid to the underrepresented and understudied regional contexts, like Nordic, Baltic Sea region, South-Eastern, Central European or East European regions.

For this theme of the 2026 edition of Lychnos, we welcome contributions that empirically and theoretically study women’s history of ideas from different thematic, chronological, and analytical perspectives. We are particularly interested in papers that explore the following issues:

The transnational exchanges of ideas and intellectual networks across national or imperial boundaries, with attention to how gendered experiences and identities shaped intellectual field

Gendered dynamics within intellectual movements or traditions—how women have contributed to and shaped history of ideas

The influence of feminist perspective on the history of ideas and intellectual movements, and how this perspective can contribute to better understanding of production of ideas and knowledge.

Theoretical and methodological approaches to transnational women’s history of ideas

Historical examples of gendered intellectual communities, including the work of women’s groups and networks that crossed borders and challenged prevailing norms.

We approach these questions from a multidisciplinary vantage point and encourage the authors to think creatively and build bridges between different disciplines and history of ideas.

Timeframe:

December 30, 2025: submission of abstracts to guest editors.

January 20, 2026: confirmation of acceptance will be communicated by guest editors.

March–April 2026: Zoom meeting with authors to discuss individual contributions and the common framework (half-day, exact date to be communicated later).

May 1, 2026: Final manuscript submitted for peer review. Manuscripts must follow the guidelines for writers at Lychnos.

June 15: Manuscript after peer review sent to authors.

August 20: Final manuscript sent to guest editors.

September 20, 2026: Manuscript ready for printing.

https://tidskriftenlychnos.se/announcement/view/262