Genealogy and Modernity: Familial, Ethnic, and National Ties

Dear Colleagues,

I invite you to contribute to this Special Issue that examines ethnic and family ties in the modern and contemporary world. The Special Issue aims to survey the diverse ways in which ethnic and family relationships have been preserved, imagined, and challenged from the Enlightenment to the present day in different geographical and cultural contexts.

This Special Issue considers the potency or weakness of ethnic or genealogical descent in creating social and political solidarities and in generating or preserving rights and obligations among persons in contemporary societies in different parts of the world. To what extent are contemporary societies national societies, in the sense of societies held together by a common ethno-cultural consciousness and ethnic tradition and symbols, and how? To what extent have more universalistic concepts of the ‘brotherhood of wo/man’, formulated by the ‘United Nations Declaration of Human Rights’ after the Second World War, replaced particularistic bonds of ethnicity and nationality and in which domains of social interaction have they done so?

Although the chronological focus is the twenty-first century, we welcome contributions from different periods, from antiquity to the present day. The key question that we wish to explore in this Special Issue is how and to what extent do genealogical bonds, i.e., bonds of ethnicity (being born in a given cultural community) and family bonds, guide human relations and shape interpersonal obligations and solidarities at both social and political levels in contemporary societies. Through this question, the Special Issue re-visits the famous essay by Edward Shils, ‘Primordial, Personal, Sacred and Civil Ties’, of 1957 and Steven Grosby’s related idea of the primordial relations that bind humans to the sources of life—land (‘territoriality’) and parents. This Special Issue also invites papers addressing the role of myths and symbols of common descent in contemporary societies, a question associated with John Armstrong’s concept of ‘mythomoteur’, which was further developed by Anthony D. Smith and John Hutchinson.

Given the current context of war, contributions are also invited that address the impact of current wars on ethnic attachments, especially conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, which have received broad international attention and involvement and have given rise to new international alliances or have extended existing ones, NATO in particular. Are broader ‘civilizational’ solidarities becoming intertwined with ethno-national solidarities in the current context of war?

Papers addressing the following sub-themes are invited:

• Narratives of fatherland/motherland in modern and pre-modern societies;
• Ethnicity as source of solidarity and principle of group formation;
• Conceptions of the nation as an extended family;
• Ethnic/genealogical and civil ties;
• The idea of the bond of blood;
• The ethno-cultural bond;
• Conceptions of social solidarity based on territorial descent (descent from a given place or land);
• The ethnic roots of modern national societies;
• Conceptions of brotherhood in nation-building;
• The brotherhood of man/humanity;
• Theories of ethnic and genealogical relations;
• Narratives and myths of ethnic intermarriage;
• Genealogical sources of social status;
• Images and symbols of genealogical/ethnic affinity;
• Ethnocultural tradition;
• Ethnic and civilizational solidarities;
• War and the mobilization of collective memories of war;
• Indigenous communities in the 21^st century;
• Extensions of familial relations in other social contexts;
• Criticisms of genealogically based solidarities/ethnic affiliations;
• Alternatives to the familial/ethnic attachments.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Genealogy editorial office (genealogy@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of this Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review. 

Dr. Athena Leoussi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genealogy is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• ethnic bond
• family bond
• nation
• civilization
• war and ethnic solidarity