The Civic Potential of Love: Solidarity in Action and the Making of the Social
A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2026 | Viewed by 144
Special Issue Editors
Interests: non-instrumental and solidarity-based actions; social and participatory research methodology
Interests: aesthetics; religion and digital faith practices; ethnographic research methods and theory
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce a call for submissions for a Special Issue of Social Sciences entitled “The Civic Potential of Love: Solidarity in Action and the Making of the Social” that explores the public and civic dimensions of love, examining its central role in social relationships, especially in interactions among diverse populations.
In sociological thought, love can be seen as a karstic stream—at times it flows underground, confined to private, intimate, and familial spheres, yet at other times it rises to the surface, flooding and revealing its public and social nature, as already intuited by some classical thinkers and forcefully emphasized by critical, feminist, postcolonial, and radical sociologies. This Special Issue, therefore, aims to focus specifically on this critical potential of social love, highlighting its civic, political, and democratic role in fostering solidarity, collective action, and inclusive social bonds across communities, societies, and institutions.
This renewed interest has led to the establishment, within the International Sociological Association (ISA), of the new Thematic Group Social Love and Solidarity. Within this group, social love is understood as a public driver of solidarity among individuals, groups, and entire populations. It encompasses actions and interactions that are free from calculation and the expectation of return, involving giving, receiving, rejecting retaliation, and nurturing understanding. Social love extends beyond primary connections to include strangers, foreigners, the most vulnerable, future generations, and even the natural environment, manifesting as care for others and for the world.
We welcome contributions to this Special Issue that explore the civic potential of love from theoretical, empirical, and applied perspectives. Papers may address, but are not limited to, the following thematic areas:
- Civic engagement—exploring how social love shapes solidarity, public rationality, voluntary commitment, and social justice.
- Education and well-being—examining social love as a transformative factor in schools, universities, and educational initiatives.
- Generational participation—investigating the role of social love in fostering engagement, collaboration, and solidarity across generations and communities.
- Organizations and institutions—studying how social love informs social work, governance, and institutional practices.
- Culture and space—analyzing social love across urban, cultural, transnational, and participatory contexts, including innovative methodologies and critical perspectives.
This Special Issue builds on the papers presented on this theme at the 5th ISA Forum of Sociology 2025 in Rabat, Marocco, while also inviting contributions from other researchers, reflecting and expanding the dialog on these themes.
Dr. Silvia Cataldi
Dr. William A. Calvo-Quiros
Dr. Angélica De Sena
Guest Editors
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. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 1800 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.
Keywords
- social love
- civic engagement
- solidarity
- prosocial behavior
- collective care
- public sociology
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