Call for Papers: Journal of Intergroup Relations

Posted by on March 16, 2009

50th Anniversary Special Issue Call for Papers from
Journal of Intergroup Relations

The Journal of Intergroup Relations will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a special issue devoted to examining the immediate and long term ramifications of Financial Sector Reform on minority borrowers and communities of color. The National Association of Human Rights Workers (NAHRW) has published the Journal since 1959 and is especially interested in manuscripts that address Financial Sector Reform in both theoretical and practical ways.

Subprime and predatory loans have undermined minority homeownership and wealth.  United for a Fair Economy estimates that the total loss of wealth for non-Whites will equal $164 billion to $213 billion for subprime loans.

The tightening of credit markets has reduced the opportunity of minority parents to use home equity to provide for their children’s college education making it more difficult for many minority students to attend college.  This is not a problem limited to low to moderate income families. In fact, the majority of parents of black college students own their own home, hold college or advance degrees and have professional or managerial positions.  Financial Sector Reform must explicitly address access for minority communities.

The Journal is seeking papers which will answer the following questions while addressing their immediate and long term implications for minority communities.

1. What role did loose underwriting standards, risk layering, limited documentation and high risk, complex mortgage products play in the current crisis and how do we construct future underwriting standards and products that provide access to affordable credit in a safe, sound and sustainable manner?
2. What happened to the Rules of SAWS (Stability, Ability, Willingness and Security) when evaluating a borrower’s qualification for a loan product and ability to pay back their mortgage loan?  What consumer protection standards should be deployed to ensure borrowers understand the loan contracts they sign?
3. Community Lending (CRA) worked for ten years – Then what happened?
4. What is the lenders responsibility in ensuring the right product for the borrower?  What standards of oversight should banks and aggregators employ to ensure that brokers and loan officers strike the right balance between borrower product needs and individual or lender profitability? What tools or standards are necessary to protect borrowers from rogue brokers and lenders who originate for profit without regard to borrower credit capability?  How can community groups act as watchdogs to call out this behavior and protect consumers?
5. What is the future role of industry insurers (FHA and Private Mortgage Insurance) in building a reliable mortgage secondary market?  What new standards of risk oversight, safe distribution and risk based capital are necessary to bring investor trust and confidence back into the securities industry while still allowing for creative new products? How do we correct industry failures, while preserving the conventional secondary market? What role should regulatory reform and enforcement play in stabilizing the capital markets for mortgages?
6. What is the role of FNMA/FHLMC going forward?  What is the right balance between government ownership and the free market model to ensure the safety and soundness of the U. S. Mortgage industry while making affordable mortgage loans available to consumers?

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION GUIDELINES

When preparing manuscripts, be sure to consult the 5th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA).

Authors should allow for wide margins and double-space all material. Tables, charts, and graphs if used should be camera-ready, clearly labeled, and presented on a separate page. Footnotes and references should follow the article. Final manuscripts normally should not be more than 25 pages (including references, notes, and tables).

Each manuscript should include a title page with the following elements:

A.        title of manuscript
B.        author(s) name(s) and contact information, including email address is available
C.        short bio statement
D.        history of manuscript (i.e., thesis, dissertation, or conference presentation).

The original manuscript or an electronic version formatted as a WORD document should be sent to:

Special Editor
The Journal of Intergroup Relations
c/o NC Institute for Minority Economic Development
114 W. Main Street
6th floor
Durham, NC 27707

(NOTE) Electronic submission is highly encouraged and should be sent to Sadams7943@aol.com. Inquiries about possible submissions are encouraged and should be directed to the Editor at (919) 423-4130.  Deadline for appearing in this volume is June 1, 2009.

Upon receipt, each manuscript will be reviewed by the editor and/or members of the Editorial Board within 3-5 weeks. Once published, authors receive five complimentary copies of the issue of The Journal in which their articles appear.