Welcome to The Acorn

The Acorn: Philosophical Studies in Pacifism and Nonviolence is a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal devoted to the philosophical examination of the theory and practice of activism, nonviolence, organizing, pacifism, protest, people power, and resistance especially related to examples such as M. K. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, or Jane Addams.

Established in 1986 by Ha Poong Kim, and edited for many years by Barry L. Gan, The Acorn is today published biannually with the support of Texas State University.

Subscriptions to the online journal, with access to “Online First” previews and archives of past issues, may be accessed at the Philosophy Documentation Center at: https://www.pdcnet.org/acorn/The-Acorn

Copies of the limited edition print journal are also available via contribution. Please contact the Editor at rm95-at-txstate-dot-edu for pricing and payment information.

Subscribers and contributors to The Acorn are invited to become members of The Gandhi, King, Chavez, Addams Society (The Society) on an “opt-in” basis. The Society is affiliated with the American Philosophical Association.

last updated Sept. 26, 2021

Our Publication Ethics

The Acorn: Philosophical Studies in Pacifism and Nonviolence insists on ethical behavior from its editors, reviewers, and authors. Our policies are closely aligned with COPE’s (Committee on Publication Ethics) Core Practices.

Any cases of ethical misconduct will be treated very seriously and will be dealt with in accordance with COPE guidelines.

1. Responsibilities of the Editorial Team

Publication decisions

The Editor is responsible for deciding on initially accepting, rejecting, or requesting modifications to the manuscript. After initial acceptance, article submissions will be circulated for anonymous peer review in accordance with our Submissions guidelines and practices. The Editor reserves the right to edit, clarify, or shorten manuscripts as deemed necessary.

Fair review

All editors and editorial staff must ensure that each manuscript submitted to The Acorn is reviewed for its intellectual content without regard to the author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. The decisions will be based on the paper’s importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope.

Confidentiality

Information concerning a submitted manuscript should only be revealed to the corresponding author, reviewers, editors, Associate Editors, or Editorial Board members, as is required or otherwise appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

The editors and editorial staff shall not use unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript for his/her own research without the author’s explicit written consent. Editors, including Associate Editors and the Editorial Board, will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

2. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Purpose of peer review

The peer review process is a crucial component in helping the editor and/or editorial board reach editorial or publishing decisions and may also serve the author in improving the quality of the submission.

Promptness

A potential reviewer should withdraw from the review process if he/she feels unqualified to assess the contribution or cannot provide an assessment in a timely manner as defined by the editor.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts for review must be considered confidential documents. Information concerning the manuscripts should not be discussed with others without the approval of the editor.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Reviewers will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the authors’ explicit written consent. Reviewers will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Objectivity

Reviewers should strive to be objective in their assessments. Reviewers’ comments should be clearly expressed and supported by data or arguments. Personal criticism of the author(s) is not appropriate.

Acknowledgment of sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor’s attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

3. Responsibilities of the Author

Reporting standards

Authors are solely responsible for the content and accuracy of their articles. That is, the authors are responsible for ensuring the research was conducted in an ethical manner, data were collected and analyzed by employing appropriate scientific methods and interpreted accurately. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data access and retention

As a philosophical journal, The Acorn is not at this time engaged with data analysis; however, if data analysis becomes a part of the journal’s concern, we will update our guidelines to require appropriate repository archives.

Originality, plagiarism, and acknowledgment of sources

Authors will submit only entirely original works and will appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publication

In general, papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Manuscripts which have been published as copyrighted material elsewhere cannot be submitted.

Authorship of the paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed to the editor at the earliest stage possible. Readers should be informed about who has funded the research and on the role of the funders in the research.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or to provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.

Acorn Editors Gail Presbey and Anthony Sean Neal Discuss Nonviolent Revolution in Ghana and the Black Freedom Struggle

As a contribution to Oxford Public Philosophy’s series on “Theories of (Non)violent Revolutions,” Dr. Gail Presbey presents the example of Kwame Nkrumah’s leadership of Ghana’s independence movement. And Dr. Anthony Sean Neal presents key concepts that guided the Black Freedom Struggle in the US.

Dr. Presbey is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Carney Latin American Solidarity Archive at the University of Detroit Mercy. Dr. Neal is an Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and a Faculty Fellow in Shackouls Honors College of Mississippi State University. Both are editors of The Acorn.

The presentation was hosted by Susmita Dave (people for womxn* in philosophy) and Emma Weitzmann (Oxford PPE Society), and is a collaboration of these two networks. It forms part of people for womxn* in philosophy’s lecture series on “Theories of (Non)violent Revolutions”. This series aims to address publicly and commonly entertained contradictions in the revolutionary topic of each panel and engage us all in critical enquiry. pwip’s broader concern covers the violence inflicted by uncritical thought and how (non)violence is spoken about and enacted surrounding revolutions and revolutionary thought.

Acorn Editor Orosco Interviews Racial Justice Scholars Curry and Mendoza

Is racial justice something that is possible in the United States, given its history and current political conditions? In this episode, Joseph Orosco interviews philosophers Dr. Tommy Curry and Dr. Jose Jorge Mendoza to explore whether we should have hope that the future of the US will be different than its racist past.

Can Black Lives Matter as a social movement lead toward a more liberated society? What forms of solidarity between Black and Latinx communities, especially between intellectuals, are called for in his historical moment? Finally, is philosophy a field that young scholars of color should enter in order to gain the skills and forms of knowledge needed for conceiving of racial justice?

Acorn Editor Sanjay Lal Talks about his Book on Gandhi’s Political Philosophy

In Gandhi’s Thought and Liberal Democracy (Lexington Books, 2019), Sanjay Lal makes the case that for Gandhi, in stark contrast to commonly accepted liberal orthodoxy, religion is indispensable to the public life, and indeed the official activity, of any genuinely liberal society. Gandhi scholars, political theorists, and activist members of a lay audience alike will all find much to digest, comment upon, and be motivated by in this work.

Listen to the podcast at New Books in Hindu Studies, a channel of New Books Network

‘Somebodiness’ in Restorative Justice

Editors of The Acorn present work for the 2020 online conference of the Peace and Justice Studies Association

“Vulnerabilities of Somebodiness in Restorative Justice Theory”

  • Anthony Neal (Mississippi State University)
  • Greg Moses (Texas State University)
  • Sanjay Lal (Clayton State University)

The Acorn, vol. 19: Marilyn Fischer Reviews Addams Selected Papers, vol. 3

In a forthcoming review of The Selected Papers of Jane Addams, Volume III: Creating Hull-House and an International Presence, 1889-1900, noted Addams scholar and philosopher Marilyn Fischer writes that,

The volume is particularly strong in documenting the step-by-step processes through which Hull House grew. The cumulative effect is to recast readers’ image of Addams and Hull House from a singular individual with her remarkable social settlement, to viewing Addams and Hull House as transmission nodes within complex networks of people, organizations, and institutions dedicated to transforming every facet of city life.

During the decade documented in volume 3 of the Addams papers, we find Addams corresponding with “an astonishing number of people and organizations” as Hull House develops historical leadership as a center of social work. But also, the papers reflect Addams’ work as mediator of the Pullman Strike and as a world traveler who visited with Leo Tolstoy and began to develop her own approach to pacifism.

Please find the complete review here in pre-publication archive:
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/phl_fac_pub/182/

The Acorn, vol. 18: What is Pacifism?, Black Male Sudies, and Quaker Elders

In volume 18 of The Acorn we find pathmaking articles on how to approach the philosophy of pacifism, why the field of Black Male Studies is needed, remembrance of pacifist intellectual Mulford Q. Sibley, review of The Black Panther movie and several important recent books in pacifism and nonviolence.

Access The Acorn via online subscription at:
https://www.pdcnet.org/acorn/The-Acorn

Print copies are available via donation. For more info about the print edition, email:
RM95-at-txstate-dot-edu

The Acorn: Philosophical Studies in Pacifism and Nonviolence

Vol 18, Nos. 1–2, Spring/Fall 2018

Articles

“The Pacifist Tradition and Pacifism as Transformative and Critical Theory”
Andrew Fiala

“What Can Virtue Ethics Offer Pacifists?”
Steven Steyl

Features

“Subjects of Vulnerability”
Tommy Curry, Author of The Man-Not,
Meets Critics Anthony Neal and Dwayne Tunstall

“Remembering Mulford Q. Sibley (1912–1989): A Thirty-year Commemoration”
Duane L. Cady

Reviews

“Viewing the Black Panther Movie through the Lenses of Liberation Philosophy and Liberation Theology” — Review of Black Panther, Ryan Coogler, director.
Arnold L. Farr

“Resisting Violence and Domination” — Review of On Resistance: A Philosophy of Defiance, by Howard Caygill.
Court Lewis

“Civil Resistance Wisdom from Three Quaker Elders” — Reviews of Nonviolence in America: A Documentary History, by Staughton Lynd and Alice Lynd, editors; and How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning, by George Lakey.
Tom Hastings

“Terrestrial: Neither Global nor Local” — Review of Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime, by Bruno Latour.
Walter “Jerry” Kendall

“Songs of Social Protest: Review of Give Peace a Chant” — Popular Music, Politics and Social Protest, by Dario Martinelli.
Court Lewis

“To Understand All is to Forgive All” — Review of Little Siddhartha: A Sequel, by William Irwin
Court Lewis

Happy New Year at PhilPapers 2017

Organizers at PhilPapers have agreed to post a category on Peace and Nonviolence:

https://philpapers.org/browse/peace-and-nonviolence

Some leading names in nonviolence philosophy have also been added as 20th Century Philosophers:

Mahatma Gandhi
https://philpapers.org/browse/mahatma-gandhi

Jane Addams
https://philpapers.org/browse/jane-addams

and Martin Luther King, Jr.
https://philpapers.org/browse/martin-luther-king

The editors of The Acorn would like to thank PhilPapers for these timely adjustments. We encourage our colleagues to join efforts of scholarship and critical thinking in these important areas of study.

Sincerely,
Greg Moses