Bodies Under Law: Gender, Sexuality, and the Politics of Governance from Antiquity to the Present (Call for Chapters, Palgrave Macmillan)

Bodies Under Law: Gender, Sexuality, and the Politics of Governance from Antiquity to the Present is an edited volume to be published by Palgrave Macmillan. It is edited by Dr. Pallavi Mohanan of IILM University and Dr. Tanya Bhardwaj of the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, who are inviting abstract submissions for chapters. The volume seeks interdisciplinary contributions on how gender and sexuality have been governed from antiquity to the present, taking in contemporary anti-gender movements and the legal, political and cultural frameworks that continue to shape bodies.

• Gender and sexuality under legal and political systems
• Historical and contemporary governance of bodies
• Feminist legal scholarship
• Queer theory and legal studies
• Law, history, sociology, and literary studies
• Anti-gender movements and politics of governance
• Intersections of gender, sexuality, law, and culture

The call is open to academicians, researchers, practitioners and scholars working in Law, History, Sociology, Literary Studies, Gender Studies, Queer Theory, Political Science and related interdisciplinary fields. The editors have not published any restriction on career stage or institutional affiliation.

• An abstract of 200 to 500 words
• Relevant keywords
• A short author bio

The call states no submission, processing or publication charge, and no author-side fee appears anywhere in the official submission form. A reputable academic press does not charge contributors for a chapter in a commissioned edited volume, so if any payment is requested at a later stage, confirm it directly with the editors before paying.

Abstracts are submitted through the official Google Form titled Call for Abstracts, linked below. The editors also accept submissions and queries by email at bodiesunderlaw@gmail.com. The abstract deadline is 20 August 2026.

As circulated, the call does not state a full-chapter deadline, a chapter word limit, a co-authorship policy, an acceptance notification date, or the review process the editors will follow. It also does not name a Palgrave Macmillan series or a commissioning editor. Prospective contributors should settle these points with the editors before committing time to a chapter. This listing records only what the official submission form and the circulated call actually say.