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Abstract

This foreword is in four separate parts:
Part I: Inspiration for the Special Issue: A Personal Story: This section describes the inspiration for this issue, in a tale of the author’s experience with social science over the past 40 years. It offers some general observations and theories about what has happened to the social sciences from a personal perspective over time. (pages 2 to 19)
Part II: The Concept for this Special Issue of Catalyst and the Reality of Critiquing and Restoring Social Science: This section is what one generally finds in an introduction to a special issue, describing the specific concept and contents, with some additional information that itself is informative about social science today. It presents the goals for the issue and the process of putting this issue together. Most journal special issues offer an easy vehicle for an existing group of scholars to publish their work. In contrast, this issue, starting with a critical approach to social science, faced many of the challenges that exist today to those who seek to challenge the existing consensus in social science that is anti-science and that has politicized social science. This section provides a case study that offers insight into the controls and ideologies that restrict discussion of social sciences today. (pages 20 to 38)
Part III: Introducing the Contents of the Special Issue: This section introduces the pieces in this issue and how they fit together. (pages 39 to 46)
Part IV: A Vision for Revitalizing Social Science and Inviting Continued Debates and Solutions: This final section offers a short general “vision” for a revitalized social science, describing the kinds of actions that this issue of Catalyst seeks to catalyze, in revitalizing social science disciplines. (pages 47 to 52)

The typical introduction to a special issue focuses on the pieces that appear and describes how they fit together with each other. What makes Catalyst a special journal is that in addition to linking articles on themes, it seeks to serve in the role of catalyzing deep reflection and social change. With those goals in mind, this foreword consists of four parts as described in the abstract above: a personal story of this editor’s experience (hopes and despair) with academic social sciences; the goals of this special issue and the process of bringing it to fruition; introduction to the pieces in the issue; and comments on the tasks ahead given the findings and proposals presented in this issue to re-catalyze social sciences.

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