Alternation is an interdisciplinary academic peer-reviewed open access journal for original, cutting-edge, and transformative, contextually-relevant research in the Arts and Humanities and related fields, in Southern Africa.

It gives preference to articles with high levels of conceptually-relevant theory and discourse development, empirically-focused research that facilitate processes of social transformation, and that may lead to social policy formation, as well as decolonial, African-focused discourse, and discursive formation development in the interests of social justice, and equity. It is useful for the Arts and Humanities research community, Teaching and Learning, Community Engagement, and policy makers and practitioners.

The majority of the journal issues are thematic, and the product of an Alternation Research Group under the leadership of one or more of the members of the Alternation Editorial Committee and/or the Alternation Research Board (ARB). Since 2018, Alternation also publishes Open Theme issues, that contain single-theme or thematic clusters of articles.

Alternation invites articles, and responses to articles of up to 10 000 words dealing with topics relevant to the contemporary interdisciplinary scholarly significance of the academic study of the Arts and Humanities in Southern Africa. (Longer articles may also be considered for publication.) Book reviews between 1000-1200 words are also welcome.

The journal’s main area of interest is the phenomenological and comparative study of the diversity of discourses and discursive formations in the Arts and Humanities disciplines in Southern Africa. Alternation fosters discipline-specific as well as interdisciplinary research on the nature, prevalence, relevance, and context of Arts and Humanities phenomena in both local and global contexts, from a mainly southern African perspectives.

Alternation research is aimed at knowledge production and is decolonial, transformative and constructive in nature. Research contributions may focus on any of the current and/ or historical problematization, production, and/ or contextualisation of knowledge in the Arts and Humanities in African contexts.

The main areas in which Alternation Research Groups specialize are: Anthropology, Education, Geography, History, Governance, Informatics, Management Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, and Southern African Literature and Languages. Depending on the themes Alternation Research Groups pursue, adjacent areas in the discursive field may be accommodated.

We encourage the use of currently significant interdisciplinary theories and methodologies deriving from the Arts, and Human and Social Sciences in research, and in teaching and learning.