About the Journal

Publishers
Cristina Costa and Mark Murphy

Place of Publication
Glasgow, UK

The Journal of Applied Social Theory aims to provide an intellectual space where critical applications of social theory (in all its varied forms) can flourish.

The objective in setting up this new open-access journal is to fill a gap in current academic debates regarding the treatment of well-established and sometimes revered theories, theories that can all too often inhibit discussion while shying away from more applied forms of theoretical work.

By providing this platform for debate around social theory and its applications, we aim to make a strong contribution to critical understandings of how theory can be applied to various forms of practice – professional research, policy, practitioner, etc. All too often we find discussions of theory divorced from method and/or separated from practice. We hope that in the long run the Journal of Applied Social Theory can offer an online space where such troublesome boundaries and dichotomies can be traversed.   

We also envisage the journal providing a space for future innovation across a range of areas, not just in contributions to intellectual knowledge, but also issues of style, delivery, engagement and impact. Combined with our sister website Social Theory Applied we see this new journal as having a role in delivering on the promise of the digital public sphere. We have a clear and unambiguous commitment to democratising knowledge while staying true to the ‘traditional’ emphasis on academic standards and peer review. In this important regard, the journal is itself a boundary spanner looking to making the best of both worlds while seeking ways via which we can shape future alternatives around questions of access, academic knowledge and impact.

Given the scope of the journal, we have a number of audiences in our sights. These include the ever growing number of academics working across a wide range of disciplines who are engaged in the application of social theory in their research. Moreover, we would like to engage with communities outside the academy. These include people working in different forms of professional practice (e.g. teachers, public administrators, health sector workers, industry, etc.), policy makers at various levels of governance (regional, national and international), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and interested members of the wider public. Over time, what we would really like to achieve is a digital space where the interests, values, and ideas of these audiences can come together and create alternative forms of knowledge. After all, no one sector has a monopoly on useful knowledge.  

To achieve this, the journal consists of two main sections:  

  1. Social Theory and Research
  2. Social Theory and Society  

These sections inevitably overlap to some extent but they have the purpose of serving different forms of practice – the first serving researchers who wish to report and discuss the challenges of combining theory and method, whilst the second section provides a home for academics and/or practitioners and/or policy makers who want to reflect more generally on social issues via a socio-theoretical lens. The second category is wider but deliberately so; we aim to be as inclusive as possible and engage with as wide a readership as we can.



ISSN: ISSN 2398-5836