Frontier Ethics: A Journal of Critical Humanities.
A new peer-reviewed, open access journal launching in 2027 in Kyoto, Japan.
The inaugural special issue, will be the ‘The Birth of Michel Foucault (La naissance de Michel Foucault) a volume marking the centenary of his birth. The call for papers has just opened.
Frontier Ethics: A Journal of Critical Humanities (ISSN 2760-7933) is an international peer-reviewed journal published in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean. Its mission is to open new horizons in critical humanities by receiving thought that emerges at the borders of nations, languages, fields, and institutions. Submissions are accepted only in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean. The journal considers original manuscripts, parallel submissions, republications of previously published work, and translations from other languages. Original articles and research notes undergo RQES AI screening before expert peer review. Where there is no frontier, there is no core; thought that seeks the core is always tested at the frontier. The journal is founded as a place where such thought may be recorded, sharpened, and read.
Inaugural Issue of FRONTIER ETHICS: Special Issue
“The Birth of Michel Foucault (La naissance de Michel Foucault)”
Special Issue Editor: Hideki Shibata
On October 15, 2026, Michel Foucault (1926–1984) will mark his centenary. His work, from History of Madness (1961) to The Hermeneutics of the Subject (1981–82 lectures), has been a subject of constant re-reading across a wide range of fields in the humanities and social sciences, including philosophy, history, sociology, history of medicine, gender and sexuality studies, and postcolonial studies. Even today, more than forty years after his death, Foucault studies are entering a new phase with the publication of History of Sexuality, Vol. 4: Confessions of the Flesh (2018) and the ongoing editing and translation of his Collège de France lectures.
This special issue conceives of this centenary not as an occasion for retrospective commemoration, but as a forum for re-examining how Foucault’s thought can be newly generated in the present. The term “birth (naissance)” in the title directly echoes Foucault’s own texts, including The Birth of the Clinic, The Birth of the Prison, and The Birth of Biopolitics. It did not signify a regression to an origin, but rather a gesture of questioning how a certain thing became possible—that is, a methodological stance of historically describing configurations and ruptures, continuities and discontinuities. This special issue also aims to historically re-examine the “birth” of Foucault’s own thought, while simultaneously illuminating how his concepts are “being born” anew within contemporary problematics.
Themes for Submission
This special issue invites a wide range of articles on the following thematic areas. This list is not exhaustive; submissions on any aspect of Foucault’s work are welcome.
- The Present of Biopolitics and Governmentality: Re-examining biopower after the pandemic, critical considerations of neoliberal governmentality.
- The Methodology of Archaeology and Genealogy: Theoretical and methodological examinations of concepts such as épistémè, discourse analysis, and dispositif; Foucauldian practice as a mode of historical writing.
- The History of Sexuality and the Body: Reconfiguring readings of History of Sexuality after Confessions of the Flesh; historicizing reproduction, marriage, and confession; theoretical dialogue with queer theory and trans studies.
- Ethics and Subjectivation—Re-reading Late Foucault: Inquiries into the care of the self, parrhesia, and the aesthetics of existence; attempts to bridge ancient thought and contemporary ethics.
- Responses from the Colonial/Non-Western: Genealogies of colonial rule, imperial medicine, and racism; the reception and critical inheritance of Foucault in East Asia; responses from postcolonial feminism.
- Contemporary Applications: Power analysis in medicine and public health; AI and algorithmic governance; the climate crisis and environmental governmentality; the present state of surveillance studies.
Submission Guidelines
Languages: Japanese, Chinese, English, or Korean
Submission Types: Research Article (peer-reviewed), Research Note (peer-reviewed), Critique, Book Review Essay
Character Count (including notes and references for all types):
Research Article: 16,000 to 22,000 characters
Research Note: 8,000 to 12,000 characters
Critique: 6,000 to 10,000 characters
Book Review Essay: Within 6,000 characters
Formatting Guidelines: Submissions must conform to the FRONTIER ETHICS submission guidelines.
Regarding Article Processing Charges (APC)
As this is the inaugural special issue of FRONTIER ETHICS, it will be published as Diamond Open Access (no author fees).
Subsequent issues are planned to transition to Gold Open Access with standard fees.
Schedule
Deadline for Expression of Interest (title and abstract of approx. 400 characters): September 15, 2026 (Please contact editor@feajch.com)
Full Manuscript Submission Deadline: October 15, 2026 (Official submission via the submission system at https://review.feajch.com)
Notification of Peer Review Results: Around December 25, 2026
Revised Manuscript Submission Deadline: January 31, 2027
Notification of Final Peer Review Results: Around March 31, 2027
Author Proofreading Deadline: April 30, 2027
Planned Publication Date: October 15, 2027
Foucault News 