Introduction

This chapter seeks to encourage constructive peer-review processes and to draw upon innovative discursive techniques employed in other fields, such as in Behavioural and Brain Sciences, where an article is accompanied by 10–25 critical commentaries. The intention was to stimulate intensive assessment and development of arguments following the publication of an initial article, fostering discussion of arguments, where academically warranted, across issues through successive replies. In terms of content, felt there was scope, in an age of rolling TV news channels and weblogs with strong editorial content, for a forum at the intersection of politics, international relations, sociology and social policy in which current affairs could be analysed through the lens of contemporary social and political thought. The author thinks a market for a journal of applied contemporary thought which aims to examine contentious contemporary issues in a discursive, developmental manner, helping to make often abstract ideas, claims and arguments more accessible without compromising on quality.