We are happy to announce a forthcoming special issue for the European Journal of Social Psychology (EJSP) on Solidarity in the Spotlight: Understanding Allies' Participation in Social Change. This special issue will be guest-edited by Julia Becker, Maja Kutlaca (University of Osnabrück, Germany), Helena Radke (University of Osnabrück, Germany / University of Edinburgh, UK), and Aarti Iyer (University of Sheffield, UK).

Background

Many social movements, such as HeforShe or Borderless Solidarity, aim to mobilize those not directly affected by injustice to fight for social equality. By including allies, social movements not only gain in numbers, but may also increase their societal impact because their actions may be perceived as more legitimate and appropriate. At the same time, allies do not always understand the struggles of the group they are acting with, or may paradoxically recreate the hierarchies they are aiming to abolish. For instance, some allies may take the center stage and/or may demand gratitude for their involvement from the disadvantaged group. The goal of this special issue is to bring together various social psychological approaches to better understand when the participation of allies might facilitate or undermine social change efforts.

Potential contributions

We invite researchers studying allies in any aspect of intergroup relations (e.g., intergroup helping, confrontation of discrimination, contact, collective action) to contribute to this special issue. We especially encourage submissions from those working in non-Western countries and across traditional disciplinary boundaries.

The contributions should reflect on one or more of the following research goals:

• Provide insight into motivation and mobilization of allies for social change
• Examine short-term and long-term consequences of allies' involvement in social change and the society more broadly
• Examine majority-minority solidarity and/or intra-minority solidarity
• Provide better understanding of the role of allies with intersectional identities (i.e., those who belong to advantaged and disadvantaged groups)
• We are seeking contributions that would cover a broad range of different issues (e.g., sexism, racism, heterosexism) and behaviours (ranging from less to more costly actions) to be able to illuminate benefits and/or costs of allyship across different contexts.

With this call, we invite expressions of interest; see below for a detailed description of the procedure. From these submissions, we will invite a set of contributors to submit a full manuscript that will undergo rigorous peer review and must meet the high standards of the EJSP before being accepted for publication. All manuscripts are expected to adhere to the EJSP Open Data and Material Guidelines.

We are seeking original empirical and theoretical articles (max. 10,000 words). Note that effective since February 1st, the EJSP has abolished short reports and single-study empirical papers will be considered only in exceptional circumstances (e.g., strong pre-registered tests of relevant effects, investigations of a timely and novel topic, research with unique populations, or secondary analyses of large data sets).

Timeline

• September 15, 2019: Deadline for Expressions of Interest from potential contributors in the form of a brief proposal (see below)
• December 1, 2019: Manuscript submission deadline
• March 1, 2020: First decisions regarding submitted manuscripts
• May 1, 2020: Revised manuscript submission deadline

Submission of Expressions of Interest

To submit an Expression of Interest, please create a single PDF document which includes: (a) a proposed manuscript title (which can change), (b) the names and affiliations of authors, and (c) a brief proposal (400-600 words) of your planned contribution including: a summary of research questions and their relevance to the special issue, participants including sampling strategy, methods, variables, and results.

The deadline to submit Expressions of Interest is September 15, 2019. Please email your document to Maja Kutlaca (maja.kutlaca@uni-osnabrueck.de). The Guest Editors will be happy to answer questions about the scope of the special issue and the potential fit of a manuscript to the issue. Authors who do not submit an expression of interest by September 15, 2019 may still submit a full manuscript by the December 1, 2019 deadline. Please note, however, that the Guest Editors cannot guarantee full consideration of these submissions. Thus, a brief initial enquiry is strongly recommended.