CALL FOR PAPERS - CLAROSCURO SPECIAL 26 (1)- 2027

Claroscuro Journal (Revista Claroscuro) invites scholars to contribute to the Special Thematic Issue on "Minorities and Minority Policies in the Ottoman Empire During the Modernization Period", coordinated by Dr. Sacit Uğuz (Hatay Mustafa Kemal University - Hatay/Türkiye).

Thematic Focus

The 19th-century modernization and the Tanzimat era (1839–1876) in the Ottoman Empire marked a profound transformation in minority policies. The traditional Millet System was a structure where minorities (Greeks, Armenians, Jews) were autonomously governed through their religious leaders and were able to preserve their religious identities. However, due to the weakening of central authority, the intervention of Western powers using minorities as a pretext, and the rise of nationalism in the Balkans, the Millet System became unsustainable. The Ottoman State initiated reforms aimed at preventing the dissolution of the empire.

These reforms in 19th-century Ottoman minority policies were well-intentioned efforts designed to save the empire. However, the principle of modern citizenship and legal equality, which sought to replace the Millet System, failed to succeed due to external pressures and the strength of nationalist movements, ultimately failing to prevent the empire's disintegration. Although the reforms laid the groundwork for political and legal transformation, they were insufficient to appease the independence demands of the minorities.

This issue of Claroscuro welcomes articles examining all aspects of "Minorities and Minority Policies in the Ottoman Empire During the Modernization Period" through the following thematic areas (which may be expanded upon):

• Minorities in the Ottoman Empire
• The Changing Minority Policy of the Ottoman State: From Classical to Modern
• Reflections on the Concept of Minority in the Ottoman Empire
• Religious Minority Communities and the Ottoman State’s Approach to These Communities
• The Attitudes of Minorities towards the Ottoman State

Publication and Submission Details:

Target Publication Date: July 2027 (Issue 26, Volume 1)

Submission Deadline: We kindly invite you to submit your article by August 31, 2026 to claroscuro.cedcu@gmail.com and sacituguz@gmail.com

Submission Languages: Only original and unpublished articles in English, French, Italian, and Spanish will be considered for evaluation.

Review Process: All articles will undergo double-blind peer review and, upon acceptance, will be edited and published exclusively online (Open Access). The reception of articles and reviews outside the dossiers is permanent.

Inquiries: For questions about the special thematic issue or to check the suitability of your contribution's topic, feel free to contact Dr. Sacit Uğuz (sacituguz@gmail.com ).

Claroscuro is a journal belonging to the Centro de Estudios sobre Diversidad Cultural (CEDCU, Facultad de Humanidades y Artes, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina), and it is published twice per year. For more than 20 years, the Journal has been committed to the publication of original papers from the fields of history and anthropology, with a special emphasis on interdisciplinary perspectives devoted to the ancient and contemporary societies of Asia and Africa. Claroscuro is a Latindex indexed journal and is hosted in the Portal "Revistas UNR," dedicated to open-access academic journals edited by diverse centers and organizations from the Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR).

For more information and to view previous issues, please visit the following website: https://claroscuro.unr.edu.ar.