EGB
Ethics & Global Politics, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2007
sici
xxx
PUBMED Abbreviation
Editorial
I am pleased to announce that submissions are now sought for the new journal Ethics & Global Politics, Volume 1, 2008. The journal is aimed at providing a forum for original research articles, which amalgamates philosophy and political theory with empirical problems that transgress the regional, national, international and global levels of politics. The many political challenges faced by the world today place greater demands on political theory to provide novel ways of approaching them. Ethics & Global Politics is problem-driven and is unconstrained by any single tradition or perspective. It welcomes analytical and continental perspectives, as well as all those philosophical views that cannot be grouped according to this distinction. In my view, the editorial board mirrors this diversity and pluralism.Ethics & Global Politics is a forum for intellectual meetings between ethical and political thoughts, and between theory and its practical applications. However, in order to become a truly global rendezvous point, it is important that the journal is published under the Open Access model. Indeed, a journal that seeks theoretical contributions to the study of ethical issues in a global context should be accessible to a global audience and not just to those who can afford a subscription. Articles will be free for anyone to read and download, and to disseminate for educational purposes. In addition, the Open Access model speeds up the publication process of peer-reviewed articles in the Social Sciences. Issues are published online and in print, and all articles are posted online as soon as they are ready for publication and are thus possible to search and cite without delay.The cover of Ethics & Global Politics depicts the map of the world. Upon first glance, it looks like any other map. However, a closer look reveals that parts of the world are reversed. Things have changed. The map looks familiar and unknown at the same time. Similarly, political theory seeks tools for studying today's global political changes and, in so doing, derives new concepts for critically examining deeply rooted presumptions about the world. Moreover, if one looks at the map from a distance, this reversed world becomes a butterfly, suggesting the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect refers to the idea in chaos theory that as a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon, tiny changes in the atmosphere are created that ultimately could contribute to a tornado in Asia. Here, the butterfly effect of the world map reminds us of the interconnectedness between world challenges and the theory and concepts required for addressing these.I am grateful that Sofia Näsström has agreed to act as Associate Editor for the journal. Our hope is that Ethics & Global Politics will be a discussion forum for urgent political themes approached from a diversity of perspectives. One such theme, to which a special issue in 2008 (issue 4) will be devoted, we call “At the border”. The growing number of migrants and refugees in the world has turned border issues into a prioritized area of politics in many countries. However, while what happens at the border has become an area of intensified politics, much academic thinking on ethics and politics is still predicated on what happens beyond and within borders. Such thinking proceeds from a conflict between cosmopolitanism and nationalism, or between human rights and popular sovereignty. In this respect, migration raises vital questions for moral and democratic theory. How should one conceive of the political activity that currently takes place at national borders? In what ways do refugee questions and questions of migration challenge contemporary moral and democratic theory? These are all critical questions for political theorizing.We look forward to receiving invigorating and thought-provoking new work to consider for publication in Ethics & Global Politics during the coming year and to creating an essential source of reading for all those working with global issues.
Eva Erman
Editor-in-Chief