Foreword

The foreword of each new issue of the Social and Political Review reads like a laundry list of chaos and destruction. Financial crashes are followed by revolutions and wars in Syria, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Yemen, Ukraine, are followed by Trump and Brexit, are followed by a worldwide pandemic that many foresaw but few predicted. Each Editor-in-chief has claimed that this year, their edition is “more important than it has ever been before”. What’s unnerving is that each of them has probably been correct. What role in this polycrisis for academia? It’s difficult to know who or what to respond to. Once marginal disciplines are suddenly catapulted to prominence; the study of the radical right, public health policy, military logistics. Written in medias res, the articles in this issue each speak both to contemporary issues (the rise and rise of China, state-building in Africa) and the long span history (labour relations in 1930s Louisiana, the symbol of the Flanders poppy in Ireland). They are also consciously interdisciplinary, combining approaches from sociology and political science with those of law, English, and history. Firstly, a thank you to all of the authors who submitted their pieces. This year we received a record 50 articles, which is reflected in the quality of the finished journal. Secondly, a thank you to the 23 senior, junior, and copy editors, and Meghan, Marius and Jack, without whose consistent hard work and dedication this journal would not exist. And finally, a thank you to all those reading this edition. We hope that the articles in this journal will provide a mooring among the storms of upheaval.

Oz Russell
Editor in Chief