The British Journal of Sociology
Volume 58 No 3 September 2007
Pages 347-348
As some readers will no doubt have noticed we have changed the BJS editorial structure. After seven years of distinguished service Bridget Hutter is vacating the editorial seat and handing over to an editorial collective consisting of Colin Mills (Oxford), who will be Chief Editor, Fran Tonkiss (LSE) and Richard Wright (Missouri-St. Louis). There is also a change in the book review section with Claire Moon (LSE) taking over from Suki Ali. On behalf of the Editorial Board the new team would like to express their heartfelt thanks to Bridget and Suki for the time and effort they have put into maintaining the BJS as one of the world's leading sociology journals. We are delighted to be able to retain a little of Bridget's expertise and experience as she has agreed to continue to serve in the new role of General Editor with responsibility for the commercial side of the Journal's management as well as liaison with the LSE.
Changes in editorship are traditionally a time for reflecting on missions and wondering about directions. It is uncontroversial to say that the intellectual landscape of the discipline is becoming increasingly specialized and, some might argue, more fragmented. Our view is that this makes it all the more important that the BJS stays a general journal that publishes the best that the discipline produces, is identified with no particular theoretical or methodological approach and remains open minded about the substance of sociological research. The primary selection criterion for publication in the BJS is, and will remain, scholarly excellence.
While the nature of the discipline provides challenges it also provides opportunities. The BJS has never been a parochial journal concerned only with British sociology. Looking at the very earliest issues of the journal one is struck by the number of contributions coming from North America and continental Europe and in more recent years the globalization of the Journal has gone even further. There are now very few areas of the world that we do not receive manuscripts from. The new editorial team is committed to maintaining and strengthening the BJS's international appeal and we hope that the appointment of Richard Wright as a US-based editor will help us to achieve this.
We will also, of course, not be neglecting our British audience. The BJS has been a front runner in starting a debate about the continuing relevance of sociological research to public debates about social change. Sociologists have important things to say about international migration, social mobility, crime and punishment, schooling, poverty and workplace change to mention just a few of the more salient objects of current UK public policy discussion. We will continue to be a forum where a contribution to'public sociology' can be made.
'Continuity within change' is a well worn cliché which shouldn't really be allowed in an editorial introduction. But for this once we are going to indulge ourselves, because it really does express the spirit in which the new editorial team aim to take the Journal forward
Colin Mills
Nuffield College, University of Oxford
Fran Tonkiss
Department of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science
Richard Wright
Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis