The HumaneLab
About

A laboratory for many forms of thinking

The HumaneLab is a creative and editorial laboratory exploring social, political, cultural and affective problems through multiple forms of expression. Knowledge does not belong only to academic writing — we bridge it with images, chronicles, conversations, poetry and other interventions.
Purpose  ·  Character  ·  Manifesto  ·  Ethical position  ·  Open access  ·  Language  ·  Team
Purpose
The HumaneLab is a space for critical, creative and multidisciplinary experimentation, where people from different backgrounds explore social, political, cultural and affective problems through essay, chronicle, poetry, images, video, audio and conversation.
It is not an academic journal, a personal blog, an art platform or a random archive of texts. It is a laboratory: a place for the forms of thinking that do not fit inside the academic article.
Character
01

Critical

We do not publish neutral or superficial content. We think through social, political, cultural and affective problems.
02

Experimental

Not limited to traditional academic writing: other ways of communicating are welcome, and encouraged.
03

Situated

We start from concrete experiences, bodies, communities, memories and specific contexts.
Manifesto
No important topic can be exhausted by a single discipline, a single language, or a single form of communication. Exploring the world requires more than one lens.
That is why The HumaneLab invites people from diverse, multidisciplinary backgrounds to contribute to the never-ending task of understanding the world. It does not matter if you are an academic, an artist, an activist, or someone who simply cares about pressing issues in your community or beyond.
Our goal is an open platform for inquiry that bridges disciplines, theories and methods — a living archive of diverse forms of knowledge.
Ethical position
The HumaneLab has no partisan affiliation, but it has a clear ethical orientation: a commitment to critical thinking, human dignity, social justice, plurality of voices, care, memory, and openness to diverse forms of knowledge — with particular attention to communities affected by inequality, displacement, violence or exclusion.
We are not neutral about violence, exclusion and inequality. We are open to plurality, but we do not publish discourse that reproduces exclusion or dehumanisation.
Open access & sustainability
Everything we publish online is free to read: no paywalls, subscriptions or institutional barriers.
Future printed editions, books or events may carry a price to cover production, distribution, editorial work, website maintenance and design. Any income is reinvested in the project, never in private profit.
Language
We publish mostly in English to reach an international readership — English as a bridge, not as a gatekeeper. We accept contributions in other languages when the original language is central to the piece, and encourage bilingual or translated publication whenever possible.
Team
Founding editor

Sebastián E. Ballestas Buelvas

I am Sebastián E. Ballestas Buelvas, co-founder and director of the platform. I am a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at Florida International University, focusing on migration studies in South-to-South contexts and visual methods, and a researcher in urban studies on housing and homelessness in Miami. With a multidisciplinary background in anthropology, geography, journalism, photography, and philosophy, I have developed a methodological approach to inquiry for my studies that places greater emphasis on lived experiences. This is what has led me to inform my research and contest traditional forms of examination to understand issues holistically across disciplines and topics.

Editorial team

Growing

Reviewers and co-editors will join as the community grows.