Societies are increasingly facing conflict, polarization, inequality, and divisions, making social cohesion difficult. In particular, divided societies face specific issues that impact the functioning of society since many times these contexts are divided along ethnic, national, religious, sectarian, or racial lines, among others. Moreover, what distinguishes divided societies from others is their usual inability to agree on a common process for decision-making, goal achievement, and forging of a common identity, thereby affecting social cohesion negatively. Thus, we argue that understanding the specific psychosocial dynamics and identities that emerge and interact in (post-)conflict and divided societies will allow us to understand current and future challenges to social cohesion in these contexts, considering their divided nature as core to the particular phenomena that emerge within them, and the ways in which we can address the challenges posed to cohesion by their specificities.

We invite submissions that address the following criteria:
• We welcome papers that focus specifically on different contexts around the world (e.g., Northern Ireland, Chile, Turkey, Cyprus, South Africa, among others) that are marked by significant societal divisions, thus contributing to our current understanding of (post-)conflict and divided societies and the specific group and interpersonal dynamics that exist in such contexts.
• While our primary focus in this special issue will be on ethnic, national, religious, or racial societal divisions, we acknowledge that major societal divisions are not restricted to these. We encourage anyone contributing to this special issue to explicitly bridge, embed, and discuss cross-cutting divisions along several dimensions, not only those we primarily focus on but also others such as economic inequality, ideologies, and genders. Thus, we seek to address and portray the complexity and intersectionality of the issues around societal divisions and achieve social cohesion in such contexts.
• We particularly encourage submissions from early career researchers and researchers from non-WEIRD countries.
• Quantitative, qualitative or mixed-method empirical papers will be given equal consideration.

Some of the more specific questions we seek to address in this special section include but are not limited to:
• What is the role of national/religious/ethnic identities in conflicts? What divides and unifies people?
• How can we tackle the problems and challenges of divisions in society? What kind of interventions and policies may be useful?
• What is the role of narratives and shared or distinct representations of conflict and victimhood in ongoing- or post-conflict and divided societies?
• What are the social-psychological effects of these divisions on individuals and groups?
• Where do immigrants and other minority groups belong in such societies?

Submission Details:
Authors who plan to submit manuscripts are invited to submit an expression of interest (EoI) to the Guest Editors, Gülseli Baysu (g.baysu@qub.ac.uk), Özden Melis Uluğ, (omu20@sussex.ac.uk), Ana Figueiredo (figueiredo.anacm@gmail.com) and Charis Psaltis (cpsaltis@ucy.ac.cy) by September 15, 2023 including:
• a tentative manuscript title
• contact information for the corresponding author
• names and affiliations of all authors, and
• a brief description of the manuscript content (up to 600 words) giving key information about theoretical relevance, design and method, sample details, and implications of findings (please see below).

In addition to evaluating proposals based on rigorous research methods, theoretical contributions, and overall clarity, we will also evaluate the extent to which they effectively elucidate the proposed paper's connection and approach to the concept of social cohesion. This explanation should be aligned with the proposal's theoretical contribution. Moreover, authors should demonstrate their understanding of the term "divided societies" and how it applies to their research context.

Manuscripts (no longer than 9,000 words including abstract, tables, figures, and references) should be prepared in accordance with the editorial guidelines of EJSP (see instructions to authors). Manuscripts should be submitted using the regular EJSP online system, specifying that the submission is for the Special Section Social Cohesion in (Post-)Conflict and Divided Societies. The submission website is: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ejsp

Important dates
• September 15, 2023: Deadline for expressions of interest (EoI) from potential contributors
• September 30, 2023: Communicating decisions on EoIs and invite full manuscripts
• January 15, 2024: Paper submission deadline
• April 30, 2024: Provisional acceptance of papers (i.e., subject to revisions)
• June 30, 2024: Revised final manuscripts due