Platform: invitation for collaboration and conversation

Nature of the collection (Platform: in theory archived):

In Acta Academica 54(1), 2022, Platform: in theory appears in a fourth iteration. In this issue a project on temporality within the context of global warming is introduced; a brief explanation is offered of the initiation and travels of Platform as an intellectual intervention.

The archive of the initial stages in the journey, in the journal Transformation, are presented here, with some explanatory notes on the context (the editorial board of Transformation has given permission to reproduce the content):

The first appearance was in 2020 in Transformation 104. It provided an editorial by Peter Vale and Gerhard Maré, motivating for the importance of a space dedicated to the advancement of theory in understanding and acting within the social world. We drew attention then, and continue to do so, especially to the effects of the climate catastrophe on every aspect of life on planet earth. This serves as the ether within which the collaborations we ask for are located. The editorial is followed by an article by Andrew Nash on the life and work of Peter Hudson.

In Transformation 105 (2021) we wrote another editorial, motivating for collaboration, and alerted readers to the “keywords” approach to exploring how language serves to justify and maintain power in society, first utilized by Raymond Williams.

The final appearance in Transformation (issue 106) was in 2021. Along with an editorial, it carried an article by John Higgins, explaining Williams’ purpose with his Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, arguing for the continuing importance of such an approach, and offering some examples – including “keywords”  and “theory” as keywords.

Early in 2022 Gerhard Maré resigned as member of the editorial board of Transformation, but he and Peter Vale are continuing this initiative, Platform, through the journal Acta Academica and with the support of its editors, and with continuing wider collaboration in the projects we have initiated.

Gerhard Maré and Peter Vale