Reminder: Call for Articles, Communities #148: Power and Empowerment
From: Communities Editor (editoric.org)
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:08:23 -0700 (PDT)
Hello,

Just a reminder...

/Communities/ magazine is now seeking articles for issue #148, “*Power and Empowerment*.” The issue will be out in September 2010.

Please send your article idea to editor [at] ic.org by *Monday, March 29, 2010*, or sooner if possible.

Your final article must reach us by *Friday, May 14, 2010*.

1. Theme articles: /*Power and Empowerment*/

   /possible questions to address (feel free to pick and choose or
innovate):/
   * Please describe what “power” means, and how it is exercised, in
     community and cooperative settings in which you’ve participated.
     Does this differ from how power is conceived of and wielded in the
     larger world?

   * Do you notice different types of power within your group? (For
     example, power to do something; power to stop something; power in
     process and decision-making; power in execution or action; power
     in nurturing or serving; etc.) How does power usually manifest?

   * What different power structures have you experienced within
     groups? What have been their effects on how community members
     relate to one another? on how well and effectively work is
     accomplished? on your personal sense of empowerment?

   * How can members of communities and cooperative groups achieve a
     feeling of personal empowerment? Is there a difference between
     personal empowerment and group empowerment? In what ways can a
     group's process and power structures serve to empower or
     disempower its members?

   * What power dynamics operate within your group? Are they
     hidden/obscured, or clear to all involved? Are these power
     relationships consensual or coercive? When you meet together as a
     group, are there elephants in the room?

   * What does leadership mean in your group? How can it be wielded to
     the best benefit of all? How does your group relate to leadership?
     What are the rewards and liabilities of stepping into leadership?
     What roles do other community members play in appreciating or
     challenging leaders?

   * Are there situations in which you are happy to “give power away”?
     What are the effects of “followership” or mentorship?

   * Have you experienced a guru-disciple relationship? What was it like?

   * How do you attempt to address perceived power imbalances? Are they
     seen as a problem?

   * On a spectrum with an authoritarian, strict hierarchical model on
     one end, and egalitarian power-sharing on the other, where does
     your group aspire to fall? And where does it actually fall? What
     are the challenges in achieving your desired model?

   * What structures and practices have you found that help your group
     relate well to the dynamics of power and empowerment?

   * How can community and cooperation empower us and help us relate
     more effectively to the forces of “power” in the larger world?
     What are the challenges in finding this sense of empowerment?

Please remember that we are looking for stories, personal experiences, and concrete examples in your answers--these are what will make your ideas and observations most “real” and relevant to readers.

[Please forward this email to anyone you think has a good story on this theme for /Communities/.]

2. We are also seeking articles about:

   * Creating community in your neighborhood;
   * Starting a new community;
   * Process and communication issues in community; and
   * Seeking community to join.

Suggested submission length is from 300 to 2500 words. We invite submissions ranging from short vignettes to extensively-developed articles, and also invite suggestions of recommended resources and article leads. We’re seeking articles written in a reader-friendly, popular-magazine style, rather than in an academic style. We ask contributors to share stories and experiences, not just ideas; write about challenges, not just successes; and describe specific situations that will help your story come alive for the reader. Before you start writing, please check http://communities.ic.org/submit.php or contact us for our full Writers’ Guidelines--and let us know your article idea so that we can give feedback on how it may fit into /Communities/. Contact Chris Roth at editor [at] ic.org.

If you don’t want to write an article but want to submit photos, please check http://communities.ic.org/submit.php or contact Yulia Zarubina at layout [at] ic.org for our Photo Guidelines.

*I. What **“**Submitting an Article**”** Means.* We will promise to read your article, but we may respectfully decline it and not publish it, or save it and publish it in a future issue. We also reserve the right to edit, shorten, or revise your article. Most of the time we contact authors about this ahead of time and get their comments, corrections, etc.

*II. Getting Permission Ahead of Time.* Please send the article only when you have permission from anyone you need it from, such as fellow community members. We endeavor to present a diversity of views on community, including controversial or critical views, yet we hope to do so in a respectful and cooperative manner and prevent antagonistic back-and-forth dialog in our letters-to-the-editor section. If the article may provoke controversy or strong reactions, please share your draft with group members to get their input before sending it to us. (Please see our Writers' Guidelines for additional details.)

*III. Publication Rights.* Once your article appears in /Communities/, we own first North American Publishing Rights. This means your article appears in /Communities/ the first time it appears in North America. In addition to appearing in /Communities/, your article may also appear on our website or in future compilations. You retain all other rights to it. If you’d like to use it elsewhere, you can, and we would appreciate your using an attribution line saying, “This article first appeared in /Communities: Life in Cooperative Culture/, (date); for further information on /Communities/: communities.ic.org <http://www.ic.org/>.”

*IV. Photos.* If we publish your article, we want to accompany it with compelling images that illustrate your subject. You know your subject best, so we are appealing to you for images. If others in your community or group like taking pictures, they might already have great images to go with your article. If you would like to submit an article but cannot supply photos, that’s fine; however, please give us plenty of advance notice so that if we use your article we can get an illustrator. Please check http://communities.ic.org/submit.php or email us for our full Photo Guidelines. We also appreciate an author photo to accompany your short (several-line) author bio.

Thanks for your contributions!

Chris Roth
Editor, /Communities/
editor [at] ic.org

--
Chris Roth
Editor, Communities
RR 1 Box 156
Rutledge MO 63563-9720 editor [at] ic.org
660-883-5545
communities.ic.org

for Communities advertising,
please contact Tanya Carwyn:
ads [at] ic.org
828-669-0997

for photos and layout,
please contact Yulia Zarubina:
layout [at] ic.org
910-617-6136


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