Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Mahavidyalaya
Affiliated to West Bengal State University

Submission

Call for Papers /Announcement

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Mahavidyalaya, a co-educational institution of higher education located at Bon-Hooghly, Kolkata intends to publish the maiden issue of its multidisciplinary bilingual journal Spectrum. The inaugural issue of the Journal will be a Special Issue on the theme ‘Pandemic’.

Author guidelines

Please submit your article along with an abstract of not more than 3500 words, a brief bio-note and address for communication (with contact no). Please note that author’s name, institutional affiliation and contact details should not appear in the article, they should appear in a separate page.

Submission details:

Word Limit: 3500 words (inclusive of footnote)
Style: MLA Handbook (8th Edition)
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Deadline: 30th April, 2021

Concept Note on Volume 1, Special issue 2021:

The outbreak of Covid-19 has marked its indelible mark almost on every human activity as well as significantly affected global economy and politics. The highly infectious corona virus has led the scientists to engage in inventing the vaccine so that we can fight against this deadly disease. While the quest for effective remedy against the disease has been a long-drawn process, the researchers and scientists have prescribed certain preventive measures to check the spread of the disease by advocating social distancing, use of masks and alcohol-based sanitizer and the imposition of lockdown. The rapid spread of the disease across the continent has stalled the international travel globally, and this has affected aviation, tourism and hospitality industry to a larger extent. The imposition of lockdown by different countries ranging not less than twenty days at a stretch has derailed global economy, and economists predict a worldwide economic recession. The outbreak of this pandemic has forced the corporate and other service sectors to rethink the strategies of coping with these unprecedented situations. Different companies are now promoting ‘work from home’, and this new phenomenon affects employees and corporate in various intriguing ways. The job market has been hugely affected by the imposition of lockdown, and this has worsened the condition of migrant labourers whose flight from their places of work to their places of origin has been hotly debated in the public discourse. What does lockdown mean for the migrant labouerer? How do they survive the nation-wide lockdown? What does lockdown portent to the women folk who have to manage both the home and ‘work from home’? Does the lockdown help in gender sensitization? How does lockdown affect women in general? The social distancing floored as a preventive measure against the virus and the lockdown have affected almost everybody specially children and senior citizens leading to the steep rise in depression and other psychological ailments. Scholars and researchers are now working on the emotional and psychological impact of this disease and lockdown. How does the reporting of the case of covid positive patient affect others? What psychological impact does this pandemic make upon the frontline workers like the doctors, nurses, police personnel, and other emergency service providers?

The outbreak of the pandemic has raised a number of important issues that are debated by political scientists and sociologists. It is needless to say that the epidemic has upset the existing social, economic and political matrix prevailing in the present global order. While different countries have resorted to various strategies to combat the disease, international borders have been sealed to stop the spread of the disease. It is interesting to note that along with these measures adopted by different nations, international cooperation is earnestly sought to put check to the deadly virus. Does globalization help in combating the disease? Does epidemic portend a rethinking of what international cooperation means?

The imposition of lockdown across the globe has once again brought the issue of environment and the politics of ecology to the forefront. The noticeable reduction in pollution has made many environmentalists to term the pandemic as a blessing in disguise for the environment. How do we therefore envision a future that is based on sustainable development with clear focus on ecology? What does this pandemic mean to the environmental scientists and activists?

The imposition of lockdown for a sufficiently long period of time and the resultant shrinkage in job market and reduction in pay have raised intriguing questions regarding the duties and responsibilities of the government in alleviating sufferings of common people. The policy makers are advocating for substantial support from the government to help people tide over the economic crisis. This has made us rethink the question of public distribution system and the mechanism that may be adopted to address the issue. What kind of public policies need to be adopted to future-proof the economy? What kind of economic support needs to be extended to the masses?

The online mode of instruction has been hugely promoted in the extraordinary circumstance as the educational institutions continue to remain closed for a sufficiently long time. This has obviously raised the question of digital privilege and ultimately brought us to face the stark reality of economic capability. Does this promotion of digital mode create divides to a different extent? How does this impact upon education in general?

How do the writers and thinkers perceive this global phenomenon? How has pandemic been reflected in literature? How has human life been affected by the emergence of pandemic as depicted in literature?

The main objective of the journal is to explore and investigate how human life, economy, politics, society and culture inter alia have been affected by the emergence of the pandemic. We invite original, unpublished scholarly articles on topics related to Pandemic. The following themes are suggestive in nature, and therefore not restrictive:

a) Economic Growth
b) Global Recession
c) E-commerce
d) Internal relation and globalization in the face of pandemic
e) depression, mental anxiety and pandemic
f) Digital learning
g) pandemic and environmental pollution
h) migrant labour—Impact on Economy
i) welfare state and pandemic
j) gender and pandemic
k) science and pandemic
l) tourism and pandemic
m) literature and pandemic
n) Culture and everyday living in Pandemic
o) Role of Wireless Communication, Networking & Sensing Technology for Rapid Pandemic Response