Journal of the History of Biology - Call for Papers: Regional Biologies: The Life Sciences in Asia
Guest Editor: Christine Luk
Please read our Author Instructions for Topical Collections (this opens in a new tab) to get further information about the submission, review and publishing process of Topical Collections.
The Journal of the History of Biology is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for a topical collection dedicated to “Regional Biologies: The Life Sciences in Asia.” This collection aims to advance scholarly conversation and research on the knowledge and practices of biology, biologists, and biological activities across a broad geographical region known as “Asia”–––the largest continent on earth that encompasses one third of the world’s land mass. Beneath the broad expanse of territorial surface lies a diverse array of ecological and biomedical systems and conventions.
Our aim is to bring the history of biology into a sustained conversation with critical Asian scholarship. We are interested in submissions that explore: (1) appropriation and development of biological theories and practices in Asian contexts, broadly conceived; (2) ways in which the life sciences developed in tandem with and sometimes independently from the West; (3) critical analysis that exposes stereotypical thinking about Asianess and Asian cultures (e.g. exaggerated claims of pervasive influence of Confucianism and Hinduism); (4) articles that focus on less well-known Asian countries (not just China, Japan, India, etc.); (5) articles comparing the approaches to life sciences in different cultures of Asia. Some of the driving questions include: how to understand the interplay of scientific Darwinism and evolutionism in specific Asian countries with cultural and philosophical traditions that are drastically different from that of Europe and America? How do the geopolitical and biogeographical dimensions of natural history become entangled in the site-specific inquiry of “Asia”? How does the historical study of biology, ecology, genetics, and biotech relate to the social and cultural construction of Asia? Were notions of "Asian-ness" reflected in central biological doctrines such as natural selection and the modern evolutionary synthesis?
To what extent have biological and medical theories on such subjects as eugenics and contagion influenced and been influenced by popular stereotypes about a hierarchy of races in Asia?
Our preference is for submissions that highlight aspects of the biological sciences historically most closely associated with the making of modern Asia (i.e. since the 18th century or so).
Philosophical essays on biological principles will also be considered as long as they are embedded within a historical framework. The overall aim is to develop a better and critical understanding of the connections between history of bioloy and history of modern Asia.