In the past year, a lot has happened both with The Social Review and the political picture of the wider world. This website is now one year old, turning 2 this autumn, and we have to take stock of who we are, our weaknesses and strengths, and what we wish to achieve.

The Social Review was established to be a place where people who had never written before could get a start and develop their talents, before going forward with other better projects. This was our contribution in improving a poor, bad faith-ridden political discourse. We are very proud of the people we have helped so far, but it is undeniable that our output has been very male and very white. We have the obligation to always try to do better. A political discourse that doesn’t represent the diversity of voices on the left remains part of the problem. 

That is why we are announcing our new policy to prioritise pieces sent to us by BAME writers, alongside our existing policy to prioritise pieces by women writers. This means that pieces by BAME people, and all women, will be looked at first, edited first and published first. 

Of course, we will always have room for all that wish to write for us. The Social Review believes in collaboration above all: people who have never written before can count on us to help, encourage and give fair criticism of their pieces. We are never happier than when one of our readers goes on to become one of our writers. We know that often minorities in our society believe that they have to be extraordinary just to get a say, and this should not be the case. Everyone has the right to a voice, and everyone should have the right to a space where they can start out, make mistakes, and develop.

If you are interested in writing an article for The Social Review, please email your pitch to editors@thesocialreview.co.uk. This should take the form of a short bulletpoint summary outlining your main arguments. We generally recommend keeping articles to 800 words and delivering the finished piece within two weeks of pitching, but we are happy to negotiate word counts and deadlines where suitable.

We know our readership will agree this is the best way we can continue our mission to grow as political beings and help others grow too. Our voices are only as important as your voices, and we hope to include as many people as possible in our joint effort.  

Signed,

Julia Blunck, Editor
Joseph Hamm, Editor-in-Chief
Hugh Brechin, Editor
Morgan Jones, Editor
Wrenna Robson, Editor
Tyron Wilson, Editor
Jasper Cresdee-Hyde, Podcast Editor
Michael Bawden, Editorial Team
Beth Dilley, Editorial Team
Ciaran McGurdy, Editorial Team
Sean Smyth, Editorial Team
William Sorenson, Editorial Team