The Global South Collective–VHSSA, in collaboration with the Viet Nam National University-Ho Chi Minh, we are thrilled to officially introduce our 3rd International Symposium on Global South Studies to be held at Viet Nam National University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, from 21 to 23rd August 2026.
EMOTIONS AND EMOTIONALITY:
THE MULTI-AFFECTS OF THE GLOBAL SOUTH
Following the success of the 1st and 2nd International Symposium on Global South Studies (GSS) in 2024 and 2025, we are delighted to release the call for abstract proposals for the 3rd GSS symposium in 2026 with a specification on emotions and emotionality scholarship in the Global South.
Context
Emotions are sophisticated but essential in constructing our understanding of the social world and framing our behaviors and ethical interactions with all natural beings. Emotions make us humans. Jennifer Greenwood, an emotion theorist (2015), writes “emotions are either predominantly inborn, biological or natural devices or predominantly learned, cultural, or nurtured devices” (p. xi), arguing that emotions could be both innate and socio-culturally constructed. Emotions evolve and shift and, perhaps, are never static across places and spaces as we are attuned to the natural, technological, and socio-cultural world that is never in stillness and at pause. Thus, emotions are experiences generated and informed through our engagement with such social locations as communities or cultural roots immersed in the values, beliefs, traditions, and practices of everyday life.
While emotions refer to our individual feelings and embodied experiences, emotionality is linked to the relational and socially mediated practice of feeling connected with the expression of emotions that shape particular ways of knowing, being, and belonging. Drawing on Bourdieu as a conceptual frame, emotionality encompasses the feeling practices that foster connectedness and belonging, turning individuals into active agents of social knowledge. Emotions are critically attributed to the construction of emotionality that is shifting and contested in links to temporality and unsettledness of transience.
Our symposium seeks to gather the important work of Global South scholars and researchers who are co-constructing, reshaping, and transforming the scholarship on emotions and emotionality that are interrogated through Southern theories and traditional ontologies. Emotions and emotionality are explored through multiple affective lenses and contextualized within and beyond the Global South’s rhetoric, languages, and practices, as well as foundational knowledge systems and pedagogies.
Focus
We ask the following questions that help authors frame their ideas:
- What is conceptualized as emotion in the foundational and burgeoning knowledge of the Global South? What has constructed emotionality ontologically in the Global South?
- What kinds and forms of emotion are allowed and not allowed in knowledge creation and mobility in Global South onto-epistemological contexts?
- How are emotions and emotion(al) work constructed and embodied/narrated in and within Southern theories and studies?
- Once encapsulated in the Global South context, who owns narratives of emotions and emotionality? How have narratives of care been performed and transformed through means of knowledge re/production and reform (i.e., social media, pop culture, the arts, education and pedagogy, languages and literatures, AI & emerging technologies, pandemic, global conflicts, etc)
- What do emotions and practices/representations of emotionality mean to people and cultures in new Global South contexts and trends, i.e., South-North as borders, human migration and mobilities of knowledge, power, and culture, movements of people for study, work and life, inter- and transdisciplinary humanities, post and transhumanism, and internationalization/transnationalism/neoliberalism?
Sub-themes
Theme 1: Emotions and emotionality in Southern theories and histories
- Onto-epistemologies of emotions and emotionality in the Global South research
- Philosophies of emotions in Global South knowledge systems
- Qualitative inquiry of emotions in arts-based approaches
Theme 2: Emotions and emotionality in transient migration
- Emotions in refugee, forced migration, and transient migration studies
- Refugee, migrant, and international student mental health and wellbeing
- Emotions in migration policy and policy communication
Theme 3: Emotions and emotionality in today’s digital world
- Emotional expressions in non-conventional platforms and settings (i.e., media, genAI & new evolving technologies in digital ethnographic humanities)
- Emotions, AI, and the ethics of Emotional AI
Theme 4: Emotions and emotionality in challenging spaces and contexts
- Emotions in sensitive, sensory and intimate contexts and challenging spaces (i.e., gender and sexuality, non-conforming loveships, love of people with disabilities and sexually transmitted diseases, sex workers, parenthood, care-providers)
- The facilitation of emotionality in social relations
- Emotions-related concerns in community health
- Emotional exhaustion, compassion fatigue, and management and coping strategies
Theme 5: Emotions and emotionality in social justice and emotional justice
- Globalization, (trans)nationalism, and neoliberalism of emotions and emotionality
- (Bio)Politics of emotions
- Emotions and emotionality in human rights, conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and activism
- Emotions and emotionality in decolonization and Indigenization
Theme 6: Emotions and emotionality in cultures and the arts
- Emotions to inform local and Global South ritual knowledge and narrative collectives and practices (i.e., in rituals, traditional beliefs, and other community-based activities)
- Cultural modes of emotional expressions
Submission requirements
All submissions will be evaluated through an anonymous review process. Please do not include any identifying information in the paper. All submissions will be peer reviewed for selection.
1. Paper (30 minutes/each). A paper is an individual paper with one or more co-authors.
Please submit an abstract of 300 words or fewer, excluding references. Abstract uses APA 7th and must address the following six elements: (1) Objectives, (2) Perspective(s) or theoretical framework, (3) Methods of inquiry, (4) Data sources, (5) Results, and (6) scholarly significance of the research. Submission must include a title of no more than 14 words.
2. Roundtable/Panel (15–20 minutes/each). A roundtable is a moderated meeting that allows 3-4 presenters/group presenters to speak on a topic of shared interest.
Please submit an abstract of 300 words or fewer, excluding references. Abstract uses APA 7th and must address the following six elements: (1) Objectives, (2) Perspective(s) or theoretical framework, (3) Methods of inquiry, (4) Data sources, (5) Results, and (6) scholarly significance of the research. Submission must include a title of no more than 14 words.
* If you plan to create a panel, you will need at least 3 papers. Please submit a master file containing all individual papers and the title of your panel discussion. Please make sure to briefly describe the theme of the panel.
3. Performing Arts (20 minutes/each). The performer or a group of performers presents their work in chosen art genres: a poem, a dance, a live session of art creation, an interactive conversation/talk/dialogue with the audience, singing or remix of soundtracks, a live creative writing session, etc.
Please submit an abstract of 200 words or fewer, excluding references. Abstract uses APA 7th and must address the following items: (1) The topic, (2) Art form, (3) Objectives, (4) Methods of artful inquiry, (5) Any structure to follow, (5) Expectations, (6) The stage. Please note that the performer(s) are responsible for all preparation to make their performances possible; any special requirements must be communicated to the organizers. Submission must include a title of no more than 14 words.
4. Workshop (45 minutes/each). A workshop is facilitated by researchers as trainers to demonstrate an interactive and innovative initiative with hands-on activities that engage the audience in knowledge re/production, sharing, and transformation.
Please submit a description of 300 words or fewer, excluding references. The description uses APA 7th and must address the following elements: (1) an overview of the topic, (2) purposes and objectives, (3) a plan for activities, (4) instructional techniques, (5) creativity and innovation, and (6) scholarly contributions. Submission must include a title of no more than 14 words.
5. Pecha Kucha (1-2 minutes/each). A session for graduate students (Masters & PhDs) to present their ongoing research, exchange ideas, and obtain feedback from peers and senior fellows. The goal of a PechaKucha is to tell a story rather than trying to describe slides; 1-2 minutes for one presentation, followed by a general discussion to conclude the session.
Please each submit a description of 100-150 words, excluding references. Use APA 7th and address the following six elements: (1) Objectives, (2) Perspective(s) or theoretical framework, (3) Methods of inquiry, (4) Data sources, (5) Expected outcomes, and (6) rationale of the research. Submission must include a title of no more than 14 words.
*Language requirement:
This year, we continue to encourage roundtables of scholars to speak their local languages if they can form a group of at least 3 people of their nationality or those who are fluent in their language. This group needs to submit together ONE 300-word proposal in English on an overarching topic related to their shared experience, expressing their interest in speaking the language in common in their session. Please provide the names of all discussants and their contact information in the proposal.
We also accept proposals written and presented in local languages as long as the authors and presenters secure a quorum (at least 5 attendees).
Submission Platform
Please submit your proposals and required documents here.
Publication Opportunities
- Full papers featured in proceedings (ISSN), with affordable publishing fees, housed by Viet Nam National University of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ho Chi Minh.
- The best papers will be reviewed to appear in a Special Issue with Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration (Scopus Q1).
Important Dates:
- Deadline for abstract submission: March 1, 2026
- Notification of acceptance: April 30, 2026
- Participation registration (early bird): May 31, 2026
- Deadline for registration (regular): June 30, 2026
- Submission of presentation PowerPoint slides: August 1, 2026
- Event dates: August 21 – 23, 2026