The Social Review has changed hands but our mission remains as clear as it was when we were founded – to debate and discuss the future of socialism.
The war of attrition within the Labour party continues on fronts old and new. Our aim is not to stop it or win it, but offer a welcoming place for good faith engagement with all left of centre traditions.
We are a voluntary effort for new and established voices. One of the principal aims of The Social Review is to encourage those who otherwise may not have begun writing to write for us. In that spirit we will aim to publish pieces by new authors every month and monthly features by our own team. We also want a diversity of voices; we expect our writers to come from different backgrounds and with differing opinions. There will not be a single voice from our pieces, but dissonant points of view willing to look at the world as it is and as it should be.
The long-time readers – and listeners – of our website can rest assured that while there will be changes, The Social Review will not be wading into pointless and cheap conversations created by self-destructive impulses. What we want is to become a more integrated part of the routine of our listeners and readers, and hope they will come along with us. Every time someone is moved by one of our pieces to become a writer themselves, that is our website fulfilling its role.
Our original team was ambitious and bold, and we will try to honor that ambition going forward. Our continued contribution to The Social Review comes from a place of admiration. We can only hope our hard-work shows as much and as well as theirs has, and that they can look at us with the same pride we look to them. As we experiment with new models of pieces and publication, we are always grateful to the old team for having the courage to put themselves forward.
Transparent, democratic and open to dialogue – everything will be done out in the open, and we will always be willing to engage. Whatever happens, these will be guiding principles. Nothing will happen behind closed doors, but as part of wider conversations and willingness to listen. Collaboration is a core part of our belief.
We will, too, try to build our own legacy, one that can carry on after we move on to something else. If, some day in the future, other editors find themselves drafting their new mission statement, then we’ll have done our job well.