Topos. Journal for Philosophy and Cultural Studies.

Great news from Topos!
We are pleased to announce that Topos has improved its position in the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), moving from Q3 to Q2.

This shift is an important milestone: being ranked in Q2 means increased visibility, stronger international positioning, and growing academic impact of the journal.

This achievement reflects the collective work of our authors, reviewers, and editorial team.

Thank you to everyone who contributes to Topos.

🔗

Topos Topos, Journal for philosophy and cultural studies Topos

New Special Issue of Topos!
The Promise of (Un)Happiness? Gender, Labour, and Migration

We are excited to share a new special issue of Topos exploring migration through a feminist lens:

🔗 https://journals.ehu.lt/index.php/topos/issue/view/77

This issue brings together interdisciplinary research on migration, displacement, gender, labour, and everyday life in times of crisis, with a focus on Belarus, Ukraine, and the wider Central and Eastern European region.

The contributions explore what it means to rebuild life in unfamiliar places — often without the possibility of returning home. In many of the texts, home itself becomes a central question: something lost, imagined, or continuously redefined.

The issue addresses:
• psychological support for Belarusian refugees
• social and economic vulnerability of migrant women
• the experiences of single migrant mothers and new forms of precarity
• migration and professional identity
• women’s NGOs responding to wartime displacement
• feminist reflections on knowledge production in exile
• solidarity and community-building across borders

Many of the contributions engage with the fragile realities of displacement, where care, work, and belonging must be renegotiated under uncertain conditions.

This special issue brings together feminist theory, migration studies, and social philosophy to reflect on the profound transformations shaping Central and Eastern Europe today.

Consider subscription to our facebook, like, and share!

Vol 1 No 1 (56) (2026): THE PROMISE OF (UN)HAPPINESS? GENDER, LABOUR, AND MIGRATION | Topos Topos, Journal for philosophy and cultural studies Topos

The editorial board of Topos journal is sad to announce that on January 23, 2026, the renowned German philosopher and one of the most significant contemporary phenomenologists, Bernhard Waldenfels, passed away. Professor Waldenfels had been a member of the Scientific Board of Topos since its founding. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he lectured at the European Humanities University in Minsk, which was a very important event for the formation of a professional community of young philosophers. Waldenfels made an exceptionally important contribution to the development of the concepts of the Other (des Anderen) and the Alien (des Fremden) in contemporary philosophy. His theory of responsiveness opens up the prospect of overcoming egocentric individualism and lays the foundation for an inspiring rethinking of human coexistence.
It was a great honor and privilege for us to have the opportunity to meet and learn from him.

New Issue of Topos Is Out

We are glad to announce the publication of a new issue of Topos.

This issue brings together articles and essays that engage with urgent questions of knowledge production, political subjectivity, solidarity, and critical thought in Central and Eastern Europe.

A special place in the issue is occupied by an interview with Vladimir Matskevich, conducted shortly after his release from a Belarusian prison, where he was held for political reasons. His reflections on repression, intellectual responsibility, and the conditions of thinking under authoritarianism are both deeply personal and politically significant — and resonate far beyond the Belarusian context.

The new issue continues Topos’s commitment to critical, situated, and interdisciplinary reflection on the region and its ongoing transformations.

Read the issue here:
https://journals.ehu.lt/index.php/topos/issue/view/76

Vol 0 No 2 (2025): PHILOSOPHY IN THE PRISON — EDUCATION — POLITICAL ORDER — SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS | Topos Topos, Journal for philosophy and cultural studies Topos

The international conference “Social and Humanities Research in/on Central and Eastern Europe: Envisioning Futures from a Tumultuous Present”, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Topos journal, has just concluded — and we are deeply grateful for what these two days brought into being.
As our Editor-in-Chief noted, these were 25 years of transformation. Topos began as a metaphorical “place for thinking,” a meeting point for authors and readers. Over time, this notion shifted: Topos became a situated intellectual space, rooted in the sociocultural and political realities of Central and Eastern Europe, with particular attention to Belarus as part of this regional agenda. The journal’s name came to signify epistemic agency, responsibility, and justice.
During the conference, this idea took on a tangible form.
For two days, Topos existed as a lived space of dialogue.
We discussed:
– epistemic injustice, invisibility, and marginalization
– re-framing the region and challenging imperial epistemologies
– knowledge production in emigration and exile
– the role of academic journals in and for the region
– anti-imperial approaches, networks, and practices
We were honored to listen to the keynote lectures by
Epp Annus (Tallinn University / The Ohio State University) and
Mykola Riabchuk (Ukrainian Academy of Sciences),
and grateful for the depth and openness of discussions across all panels.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to:
– all speakers and participants
– the Topos editorial team, authors, reviewers, and scientific board
– European Humanities University for its support and hospitality
– and our wonderful student volunteers, whose work, care, and responsibility shaped the atmosphere of the conference in countless visible and invisible ways.
This conference reminded us that Topos is more than a journal.
It is a community, a situated intellectual practice, and a shared commitment to thinking critically from within the region — and beyond it.

Topos Journal celebrates its 25th anniversary and takes part in an international academic event!

On December 12–13, 2025, the European Humanities University (Vilnius) will host the international conference
"Social and Humanities Research in/on Central and Eastern Europe," dedicated to exploring key social and cultural developments across the region.

Keynote speakers:
Epp Annus (The Ohio State University)
Mykola Riabchuk (Ukrainian Academy of Science)

The conference marks the 25 years of Topos – a journal for philosophy and cultural studies that has been bringing together scholars, thinkers, and ideas for a quarter of a century.

Venue: European Humanities University, Vilnius
Dates: December 12–13, 2025
More info: journals.ehu.lt/index.php/topos
Contact: [email protected]

Join us in reflecting on the present and envisioning the future of humanities research with Topos!

Just a short reminder. Until 10 November, we welcome proposals for the conference devoted to the 25th anniversary of the journal Topos. For more information see the announcement below.

🎓 TOPOS × EHU International Conference
Envisioning Futures from a Tumultuous Present

In 2025, TOPOS, the journal for philosophy and cultural studies, celebrates its 25th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the editorial team and the Department of Social Sciences at the European Humanities University will organize an on-site conference titled "Social and Humanities Research in/on Central and Eastern Europe: Envisioning Futures from a Tumultuous Present," which will take place on December 12-13, 2025, in Vilnius.

We want to take this anniversary as an opportunity for joint reflections on the state of social and humanities research into the region of Central and Eastern Europe, and of that region’s significance to exemplarily bundle questions in social and cultural studies. We plan several conference panels devoted to the following questions:

🔹 What are the main challenges in academic knowledge production about Central and Eastern Europe today? Which trends do you observe?

🔹 How do you see the role of academic journals as platforms for the exchange of knowledge (given the rising importance of various digital platforms - YouTube, etc.)? Do journals have a particular significance in and for the region? Which possibilities do you see for collaboration and exchange between different journals focusing on the region?

🔹 How does academic work in the humanities and social sciences refer to, and react to, the mass migration of researchers due to war, repressions, etc., or of outright political violence against them? How does the particular potential to resist oppression traditionally ascribed to humanities scholarship present itself under today’s circumstances?

🔹 Knowledge production in Central and Eastern Europe has historically struggled to enter international debates and dialogue on matters related to the region. What is the situation of this asymmetry today? How can the marginalization of voices from the region be overcome?

After the conference, we envision publishing a special Forum section in a 2026 TOPOS issue presenting and continuing the panel discussions.

Working language - English

Confirmed keynote speakers:
Epp Annus, The Ohio State University, USA;
Mykola Riabchuk, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

🌍 Be part of the conversation — submit your paper by November 10!
🔗 Apply: forms.gle/K6hhib2pTpzYnaC46

The outcome of the proposal review process will be communicated by November 15.

The conference is free of charge.

Contact: [email protected]

Dear colleagues, we cordially invite all interested to participate in the conference devoted to the 25th anniversary of the journal TOPOS!

🎓 TOPOS × EHU International Conference
Envisioning Futures from a Tumultuous Present

In 2025, TOPOS, the journal for philosophy and cultural studies, celebrates its 25th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the editorial team and the Department of Social Sciences at the European Humanities University will organize an on-site conference titled "Social and Humanities Research in/on Central and Eastern Europe: Envisioning Futures from a Tumultuous Present," which will take place on December 12-13, 2025, in Vilnius.

We want to take this anniversary as an opportunity for joint reflections on the state of social and humanities research into the region of Central and Eastern Europe, and of that region’s significance to exemplarily bundle questions in social and cultural studies. We plan several conference panels devoted to the following questions:

🔹 What are the main challenges in academic knowledge production about Central and Eastern Europe today? Which trends do you observe?

🔹 How do you see the role of academic journals as platforms for the exchange of knowledge (given the rising importance of various digital platforms - YouTube, etc.)? Do journals have a particular significance in and for the region? Which possibilities do you see for collaboration and exchange between different journals focusing on the region?

🔹 How does academic work in the humanities and social sciences refer to, and react to, the mass migration of researchers due to war, repressions, etc., or of outright political violence against them? How does the particular potential to resist oppression traditionally ascribed to humanities scholarship present itself under today’s circumstances?

🔹 Knowledge production in Central and Eastern Europe has historically struggled to enter international debates and dialogue on matters related to the region. What is the situation of this asymmetry today? How can the marginalization of voices from the region be overcome?

After the conference, we envision publishing a special Forum section in a 2026 TOPOS issue presenting and continuing the panel discussions.

Working language - English

Confirmed keynote speakers:
Epp Annus, The Ohio State University, USA;
Mykola Riabchuk, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

🌍 Be part of the conversation — submit your paper by November 10!
🔗 Apply: forms.gle/K6hhib2pTpzYnaC46

The outcome of the proposal review process will be communicated by November 15.

The conference is free of charge.

Contact: [email protected]

Dear colleagues!

We are happy to announce the publication of the first issue in 2025 CONTOURS OF CONTEMPORARY CRITICAL THEORY. The publication could be viewed and downloaded via the link https://journals.ehu.lt/index.php/topos/issue/view/74 (also available in "Current Issue" section).

No 1 (2025): CONTOURS OF CONTEMPORARY CRITICAL THEORY | Topos Topos, Journal for philosophy and cultural studies Topos

Новы нумар Topos 2-2024 ужо даступны на сайце!
New issue of Topos 2-2024 is already available on our web-page!

(English version is below)

Шаноўныя калегі!

14 лiстапада пабачыў свет другi нумар часопіса Topos за 2024 год. Тэма нумара: "ДЭКАЛАНIЗАЦЫЯ ПРАДУКАВАННЯ ВЕДАЎ У БЕЛАРУСI I ЎКРАIНЕ".
Выпуск можна знайсці па спасылцы: https://journals.ehu.lt/index.php/topos/issue/view/71.

Dear colleagues!

We are happy to announce that on November 14 the publication of the second issue in 2024 happened.
The issue "DECOLONIZING KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION IN BELARUS AND UKRAINE" is available via the link: https://journals.ehu.lt/index.php/topos/issue/view/71.

No 2 (2024): DECOLONIZING KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION IN BELARUS AND UKRAINE | Topos Topos, Journal for philosophy and cultural studies Topos