[Air-L] Trump in the Global South - Special issue of the International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies

[Iginio Gagliardone]

*Trump in the Global South *

*Special issue of the International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies *


*Editors: Nicky Falkof, Iginio Gagliardone and Nkululeko Sibiya (University
of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa) *


Since his second arrival into office in 2025, Donald Trump has saturated
news, social media and public debates well beyond US borders. Yet most
scholarship on Trumpism remains US-centric. In this special issue of
the *International
Journal of Critical Diversity Studies, *we ask how his political
brand—populist nationalism, nativism, authoritarian tendencies, eugenic
rhetoric and violent attacks on difference – resonates or clashes with
political realities, historical experiences, social structures and cultural
values in the Global South, parts of which he famously dismissed as
‘shithole countries’. We also ask how perspectives from the Global South
allow a reading of Trump and Trumpism that goes beyond increasingly insular
frameworks centred on the rise of the far right and threats to civil
liberties in the US. With a focus on the first year of Trump’s second
presidency, this special issue examines how his policies, and the divisive
representations of race, gender, sexuality, disability and nationality that
often underpin them, have been received and reported in the South. It
invites empirical, critical analyses of how communities, political actors,
religious groups, media and social movements in the Global South have
interpreted, appropriated, resisted or supported Trump, his discourses and
his political agenda.


*Scope and key themes: *


This special issue encourages contributions that critically explore, but
are not limited to, the following themes:

● *Unexpected alliances and affinities: *Where does support for Trump or
Trumpism appear among communities in the Global South? How do we understand
cases where such alignments may appear counter-intuitive?

● *Resistance and rejection: *What forms of critique, resistance or satire
targeting Trump and Trumpism emerge from the Global South? How significant
are they in national public debates and how likely to influence national
politics?

● *Enforcing identities: *How do responses to Trump and Trumpism enforce
resistant, traditional, dominant or minority identities in the Global
South? How do these constituencies use their affective responses to Trump
to further cement the meanings of their identities?

● *Mediated engagements and digital cultures: *How do traditional and
social media in Global South countries frame Trump, facilitate the spread
of his ideas or foster communities of support/critique? How do local
digital cultures engage with Trumpist discourse (memes, hashtags,
influencer commentary)?

● *Contradictions and repercussions: *How do Trump’s rhetoric and policies
intersect with local realities? How do engagements with Trumpism exacerbate
existing social fractures or create new ones? What are the tangible
consequences of these trends?


We invite submissions from across the social sciences and humanities,
including (but not limited to) critical diversity studies, sociology,
political science, anthropology, international relations, media and
communication studies, religious studies and gender studies. We strongly
encourage interdisciplinary work and welcome a range of methodological

approaches, from ethnography and discourse analysis to digital methods,
computational social science and mixed-methods research.

We are particularly interested in contributions from scholars based in, or
conducting research in, Africa, Latin America and Asia. We aim to create a
platform for voices that are often marginalised in global academic
discourse and to foster a dialogue that places the Global South at the
center of critical analyses of global political phenomena.


*Timeline and submission details *


●*Abstract submission deadline: *30 January, 2026

●*Notification of acceptance: *13 February, 2026

●*Full paper submission deadline: *15 May, 2026

●*Expected publication date: *Late 2026


Extended abstracts (between 500 and 750 words) and a short bio (max 150
words) should be sent to nkululeko.sibiya at wits.ac.za.


Final papers should be between 6,000 and 10,000 words (including
references) and will undergo a double-anonymous peer review process
according to the journal’s guidelines. The *International Journal of
Critical Diversity Studies *is published by Pluto Press. The journal is
Gold Open Access and there are no article processing charges.