Collective History

This issue marks the thirtieth anniversary ofSocial Textand celebrates the journal_s legacy. Offering a history of the journal since its inception in 1979, this issue explores the elements that have madeSocial Textwhat it is today: The intellectual impulses that first brought the editorial collective of scholars, artists, and activists together; the collective_s special commitment to collaborative journal editing; and The unique path the journal has taken to arrive at the distinctive place it now occupies in new left critical thought. Featuring new interviews withSocial Text_s founders and former editors_including Stanley Aronowitz, John Brenkman, Fredric Jameson, Randy Martin, Toby Miller, Bruce Robbins, Andrew Ross, Sohnya Sayres, and Anders Stephanson_the issue reflects on the journal_s legacy as a radical publication that has bridged politics and The academy and has made critical interventions in both arenas. Several contributors revisit the first issue of the journal and describe its lasting impact. Others examine the politics of production at Social Text and detail the hands-on process of putting the journal together. Notably, The issue also features thirty essays by members of the current editorial collective, On key topics that have been crucial to The journal. Ranging from aesthetics to war, and including empire, mass culture, revolution, science, and theory, these essays bring to life the cultural history of the journal and demonstrate howSocial Texthas shaped the way that these terms are conceptualized and used today. Contributors. The forty-four contributors include the current members of theSocial Textcollective and a number of former members. For a complete list of the collective, visit socialtextonline.org. Brent Hayes Edwards is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Anna McCarthy is Associate Professor of Cinema Studies at New York University. Edwards and McCarthy are editors ofSocial Textand members of its editorial collective.