Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment, the twice-yearly, peer-reviewed journal of Culture and Agriculture (a Section of the American Anthropological Association), is looking for a new co-editor, to begin in January 2020.
CAFE features culturally and anthropologically-relevant analyses of human dimensions of environment, ecology, agriculture, food production, aquaculture, fisheries, forestry, natural resources, energy, water, sustainability, and biodiversity. CAFE publishes peer-reviewed empirical research and theoretical articles, editorially reviewed commentaries and reports, and book and film reviews. CAFE encourages dialogue among scholars, activists, and practitioners.
Recent submissions have ranged from analyses of how farmers navigate the “middle ground” in agricultural production to the moral components of food systems resilience in Bali to a survey of the archaeological evidence for prehistoric aquaculture.
CAFE aims to make anthropological perspectives available to an interdisciplinary readership of researchers, practitioners, and activists working on agricultural and environmental issues. Though anthropology is our base and specialty, readers and authors may come from many fields, including sociology, agricultural economics, food studies, policy sciences, and diverse branches of farming and natural resources management. The journal receives submissions from across the globe, and is available to institutions in low-income countries through philanthropic grants.
Along with the other AAA journals, CAFE is digital-only, with paper versions provided to subscribers for an extra fee. The AAA has a contract with Wiley Publishing, and all submissions are managed through an online journal management platform, Scholar One.
CAFE's readership and citation metrics are on par with the journals published by other AAA sections (e.g. Visual Anthropology Review and the Journal of Linguistic Anthropology). CAFE authors are frequently profiled on the Culture and Agriculture website and in our social media feeds (e.g. Twitter and Facebook) to help draw public attention to new articles and emerging research trends. We receive about sixty submissions annually, and submissions have increased slightly in recent years.
CAFE Co-Editor Job Description
The new co-editor will begin in January 2020 for a four-year term and will be incorporated into editorial discussions in fall 2019 if possible. The co-editors work on a staggered rotation, sharing duties and providing continuity across editorial transitions. The position is volunteer, but financial support for attending AAA annual meetings and an annual stipend of $1,000 is typically available. Institutional affiliation is helpful but not required.
The incoming co-editor will:
- Work with the co-editor to manage all phases of article submission, review, and publication
- Provide editorial review, judgment, oversight, and copy-editing to journal submissions and issues as necessary
- Stay abreast of current trends and issues in anthropology related to the journal’s key thematic areas
- Initiate and solicit proposals for timely and relevant themed issues
- Provide vision and oversight to journal content and future directions
- Cultivate, maintain, and work with an Editorial Advisory Board to locate peer reviewers, provide guidance to journal content and directions, and problem-solve
- Collaborate with co-editor, editorial advisory board, and section members to ensure financial and scholarly sustainability.
- Work with C&A Executive Board on journal budgeting and planning
- Serve on the C&A Executive Board, with responsibilities for providing annual reports to the C&A Board and membership on journal progress, challenges, statistics, budget issues, and other matters
- Provide annual and other reports to, and communicate and collaborate with, the American Anthropological Association’s Publications Department
- Serve as liaison between Culture and Agriculture Executive Board and the AAA Publishing Department
- Help recruit, supervise, and collaborate with student assistants, technical consultants, and the C&A website team
- Strategize on methods and media for publicizing the journal to increase readership
Experience with electronic publishing and institutional support are welcome, but not required. Editorial effort is year-round and constant. CAFE is published twice yearly (June and December), and it publishes all final articles online via Early View when they are ready.
To apply, submit a cv and letter of interest to David Meek, C&A President, at ddmeek@ua.edu no later than June 1, 2019. Additional questions about the position may be directed to the current co-editors, Brandi Janssen and Megan Styles at cafe@americananthro.org.
