About this journal

Third World Quarterly ( TWQ ) is the leading journal in the field of Global South studies, focussed on historical and contemporary structures and relations of inequality and development. It was launched in 1978, in the context of the North-South Dialogue and the then-emerging New International Economic Order. TWQ is committed to a just and equitable future for what is historically known as the ‘Third World’.

The journal has a legacy of publishing progressive and exploratory content that is anti-racist, anti-imperialist and anti-sexist. It continues to shape academic and policy agendas across political and development discourses, as well as the postcolonial trajectories of Global South nations and peoples. TWQ articles showcase the agency and rising power of the Global South in setting the agenda and providing alternatives to Western ideologies, global inequities, and responses to the global permacrisis.

TWQ has a broad remit and publishes a wide range of research on social justice, environmental sustainability, health, statebuilding, mobilities, security, financial systems, peacebuilding and human rights, culture and art, among other topics. The journal encourages contributions from across the social sciences and humanities, including but not limited to:

• international relations; 
• development studies; 
• women’s, gender and queer studies; 
• race, class and ethnicity studies; 
• heterodox economics and critical political economy; 
• and historical and sociocultural research.

TWQ welcomes interdisciplinary contributions as well as case studies that are theoretically informed. The journal also fosters bridge building between policy research and practitioner relevance. TWQ supports and disseminates the voices of early career researchers, especially from the Global South, and welcomes proposals for ground-breaking special issues that interrogate crucial topics relevant to the journal’s mission and bring together scholars from diverse backgrounds.

Peer review

The journal is edited by a global and multidisciplinary team of Academic Editors. All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal and, if found suitable for further consideration, are then subject to double-anonymous peer review by two or more external reviewers; all peer review is conducted via the journal's ScholarOne platform. For special issues, the review process itself is conducted by the guest editors, but is then reviewed by one of the journal’s Academic Editors who will make the decisions on each article taking into consideration the Guest Editor's recommendation. The journal may occasionally publish shorter Viewpoint pieces, which are by invitation only and are reviewed by the editorial team before publication.

Details on how to submit proposals for special issues are to be found here.

Founding Editor:

Shahid Qadir

Academic Editors:

Shahram Akbarzadeh, Deakin University, Australia
Morten Bøås, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway (Special issues)
Matt Davies, Newcastle University, UK
Jing Gu, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK
Ingrid Kvangraven, King's College London, UK
Marianne H. Marchand, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Mexico (Special Issues)
Sam Okoth Opondo, Vassar College, USA
Mustapha Kamal Pasha, Aberystwyth University, UK
Elizabeth le Roux, University of Pretoria, South Africa (Kassahun Checole Prize Editor)
Heloise Weber, University of Queensland, Australia

Managing Editor:

Madeleine Hatfield ( [email protected]) - Yellowback, UK

Special Issue enquiries: please download and complete TWQ’s proposal form then send to [email protected]

Third World Quarterly Editorial Board:

Chair of the Editorial Board: Shahid Qadir

Arshin Adib-Moghaddam - SOAS University of London, UK

Nadine Ansorg - University of Kent, UK

Philip G. Alston - New York University School of Law, USA

Bülent Aras - Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey

Stacy Banwell - University of Greenwich, UK

Tom Bentley - University of Aberdeen, UK

Asit K. Biswas - University of Glasgow, UK

Saturnino M. Borras Jr - IISS Erasmus University, The Netherlands

Shaun Breslin - University of Warwick, UK

Benedicte Bull - University of Oslo, Norway

Jessica Byron-Reid - University of the West Indies, Trinidad

Noam Chomsky - University of Arizona, USA

Admos Chimhowu - University of Manchester, UK

Christopher Clapham - University of Cambridge, UK

Philip Cunliffe - University of Kent, UK

Radhika Desai - University of Manitoba, Canada

David Duriesmith - University of Sheffield, UK

Maziyar Ghiabi - University of Exeter, UK

Barry Gills - University of Helsinki, Finland

David S.G. Goodman - University of Sydney, Australia

Kevin Gray - University of Sussex, UK

Siba N'Zatioula Grovogui - Cornell University, New York, USA

Adam Habib - SOAS, University of London, UK

Sandra Halperin - Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Shahar Hameiri - University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Sam Halvorsen - Queen Mary, University of London, UK

Adrian Hewitt - Overseas Development Institute, London, UK

Jason Hickel - IEST, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain

Mehran Kamrava - Georgetown University, Doha, Qatar

Cristóbal Kay - IISS Erasmus University, The Netherlands

Tugrul Keskin - Shanghai University, China

Allen Kiconco - University of the Witwatersrand, UK

Patsy Lewis - Brown University, Providence, USA

Rirhandu Mageza-Barthel - University of South Africa, South Africa

Matias Margulis -University of British Columbia, Canada

James Mittelman -American University, Washington DC, USA

Sabelo J Ndlovu-Gatsheni - University of Bayreuth, Germany

Babatunde Obamamoye - Australian National University, Australia, and Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

Chris Ogden - University of St Andrews, UK

Obasesam Okoi - University of St Thomas, US

Umut Özkirimli - Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, Spain

Swati Parashar - University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Randolph Persaud, American University, USA

Giulia Piccolino - Loughborough University, UK

Jan Nederveen Pieterse - University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

Nana K. Poku - University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Shahid Qadir (Chair)

Margot Rubin - Cardiff University, UK  

Abdi Samatar - University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

Yezid Sayigh - Carnegie Middle East Center, Beirut, Lebanon

Jivanta Schottli - Dublin City University, Ireland

Philipp Schulz - University of Bremen, Germany

Benjamin Selwyn - University of Sussex, UK

Timothy M. Shaw - University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA

Emiliano Treré - Cardiff University, UK

Diana Tussie - FLACSO, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Afua Twum-Danso Imoh - University of Bristol, UK  

Tim Unwin - Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Peter Uvin -Claremont McKennaCollege, California, USA

Arturo Valenzuela - Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA

Ritu Vij - Aberdeen University, UK

Thomas G. Weiss - The City University of New York, USA

Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, University of California, Irvine, USA

Abebe Zegeye - Centre of Research and Development in Learning, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

News, offers and calls for papers

News and offers

• Entries now open for new Kassahun Checole Prize for Early Career Researchers in African Studies!
• Visit the new Global Souths Hub!
• Third World Quarterly Global South Colloquium Fund

Third World Quarterly

Promoting the voices of Global South researchers in academic knowledge production and exchange.

We are pleased to announce that the Global South Colloquium Fund is now considering new rounds of funding for 2024-25.

Third World Quarterly (TWQ) is committed to supporting its researcher and readership communities in their work relating to the Global South, and therefore supports a TWQ Global South Colloquium Fund (GSCF).

GSCF has as its main purposes (a) enabling participation (especially of early career researchers) in international meetings; and (b) enabling of work by Global South researchers, and especially those committed to a critical approach to Global South issues, to be presented and disseminated with maximum impact in online or face-to-face meetings.

The fields of especial relevance for support include academic production and knowledge exchange in the research and policy-relevant fields of:

• Global South Studies
• International Relations and Political Science
• International Political Economy
• Development Studies
• Area Studies and related disciplines
• Sociocultural Studies.

Since its inception, Third World Quarterly has been particularly keen to encourage transnational and regional cooperation to ensure diverse debates at the highest levels of academic research. The GSCF is therefore currently offering two main elements of financial support.

Meeting Support

First, GSCF is making available grants for supporting a meeting (in person, remote webinar, or hybrid), seminar or panel session which would cover issues pertinent to the Global South research agenda. The Fund also has a preference for supporting events which seek to further the debate, discussion and dissemination of ideas and issues with relevance at the global level, rather than matters of purely local concern.

Meetings to be held in, or in the case of remote online meetings, organized from the Global South will be given preference in each year’s funding round, but this does not preclude events elsewhere being supported.

GSCF hopes that papers from such meetings could be submitted for consideration and publication, as a special issue of or a feature in Third World Quarterly, although the final papers would be required to undergo independent peer review evaluation, as is standard practice.

Assistance for Early Career Researchers

The Fund might also, for example, support a reception for Early Career Researcher (ECR) delegates or an ECR Panel Session at a bigger conference. We are keen to encourage ECRs pursuing a research agenda in relevant fields.

Again, we are interested in receiving Special Issue proposals arising from ECR meetings or collaborations, to encourage younger scholars. Author and editorial solidarity assistance may be available for ECR teams with an appropriate Editorial Board Member to aid submission to the Journal.

Travel Grants

Second, the GSCF has available travel grants up to a maximum of GBP£500/USD$600, to help support the travel costs of those attending a relevant event, with preference (but not exclusively) given to ECRs from the Global South.

Third World Quarterly recognizes the important networking and intellectual opportunities that event attendance affords, but is aware of the often-inhibitive financial demands of doing so. The Fund’s travel grants will only cover travel costs after an event registration is confirmed, but will not cover registration, accommodation or subsistence costs.

Again, we would look forward to receiving a submission to Third World Quarterly based on any paper given, but acceptance would be subject to independent peer review. The TWQ GSCF seeks, wherever possible, to cover the total amount of support requested, but may only be able to offer partial support. We will only support attendance at each event for a single delegate from an individual institution.

Apply

To express an interest in applying to the fund, please email Dr David Green, the TWQ GSCF Coordinator: [email protected]

I recently attended a Workshop on Urban Mixed Methods at the University of Toronto. The funds that the GSCF offered me were very crucial in making this happen. The Workshop allowed me to reflect on and sharpen my Ph.D. research methodology. I intend to apply these during my preliminary fieldwork in several informal settlements in Ghana in December 2023.
- Gideon Azunre, a Ghanaian and a second-year Ph.D. candidate at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada