The refereed journal, Critical Sociology (previously The Insurgent Sociologist) has a long history of combining scholarly research and theory with a commitment to social and economic justice. Given the tradition of critical scholarship associated with many of our students, alumni and faculty, a match between the journal and Boston College's Sociology Department might seem natural. As such, it should come as no surprise when David Fasenfest, editor of Critical Sociology, extended an invitation for faculty and graduate students at BC to guest edit a special issue of the journal. Fasenfast had for several years been deeply impressed by the work of the many BC graduate students and alumni participating in a series of conference session s on the "future of critical sociology" organized by the journal during the annual meetings of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Accepting the invitation to edit a special issue, over the last year an editorial collective of Sociology Department faculty and graduate students has been active in developing an issue of Critical Sociology around the theme, "Culture, Power and History." The editorial collective working on the special issue includes Professors Juliet Schor, William Gamson and Stephen Pfohl, as well as Ph.D. students and recent Ph.D. alumni, Patricia Arend, Abigail Brooks, Jeff Littenberg, Idolina Hernandez, Kelly Joyce, Denise Leckenby, William Wood, and Aimee Van Wagenen. The work involved is both labor-intensive and creative, as each manuscript considered for publication is discussed in-depth by small editorial groups and the collective as a whole. Thereafter, a detailed set of review comments are prepared, collectively discussed and modified, before being sent to all prospective authors, including guidelines for recommended revisions for those whose work is invited for resubmission. The thoroughness of this review process has enabled the editorial collective to both select and foster the development of a set of very high quality manuscripts. The special issue will highlight the scholarship of recent BC graduate students and faculty and is scheduled for publication in 2003. In addition to highlighting critical scholarship produced at Boston College, this project is also introducing our graduate students to the scholarly rigors and practical exigencies of professional refereed journal publication.