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12 Contemp. Crises 3 (1988)

handle is hein.journals/crmlsc12 and id is 1 raw text is: Contemporary Crises 12: 3 (1988)
© Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht - Printed in the Netherlands
Editorial introduction
About eleven years ago Bill Chambliss brought out this journal with hopes in
mind. He desired to promote innovation and to broaden especially the bound-
aries of radical, critical, conflict or Marxian studies. The latter has been easier
to fulfill than the former. Contemporary Crises under the editorship of Bill
Chambliss and Stan Cohen has a distinguished publishing record. Some arti-
cles have been on the proverbial 'cutting edge' and many others quite good and
significant. Nevertheless, innovation in the sense Chambliss meant has been
elusive.
Academic journals suffer, with few exceptions, a presentation that is both
formal and dull. Chambliss' intention was 'to break down some of the more
insidious characteristics of academic journals'; to liven it up without sacrificing
intellectual integrity and quality. Send interviews, short articles, rejoinders,
descriptive pieces, and, of course, scholarly essays, was his original call. The
answer for the most part was outstanding scholarship done in the rigorous and
conventional manner.
I always believed Chambliss was right and the journal lacked a bit of spirit;
didn't quite live up to its urgent name. In fact, there had been some talk about
changing the name, dropping 'contemporary crises' altogether or making it the
subtitle to 'law, crime and social policy'. However, I like the title and instead of
changing it wish to bring back some of that old feeling. I have taken the plunge
myself in this issue publishing a long and engrossing document from the recent
'Irangate-Contragate' scandal which hopefully speaks for itself.
Of course, Contemporary Crises remains totally committed to presenting
the finest critical scholarship that it can - witness the splendid articles in this
issue by O'Malley and Jenkins. Piers Beirne will continue his exceptional work
as Book Review Editor, and promises to edit a special issue on Comparative
Criminology (see announcement). There will be more of all this to come.
Jennifer Morris, an English student and Administrative Assistant in the Ad-
ministration of Justice Department will hold this entire enterprise together.
Alan Block
State College, PA

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