Irish Journal of Sociology, num. 1, 2018

As the flagship journal of the Sociological Association of Ireland, the IJS is a crucial platform by which the discipline is coherently presented to a variety of audiences – academic and lay – within Ireland and abroad. We envision a future for IJS that continues to elevate the quality and reach of sociology and also attracts high-quality research from academics based outside the Republic and Northern Ireland.

We envisage a continued evolution of the IJS towards an international journal of the highest standards that coherently articulates three core substantive strengths of the discipline – social science (broadly interpreted), social policy and social theory. The intention is to avoid a narrow view of the field and, moreover, offer an increasingly professional and rigorous demonstration of sociology’s many strengths.

First, we intend to further concretize IJS’s role as a general sociology outlet and encourage submissions of high quality, empirical social science research. Our collaborative editorship reflects an even balance between qualitative and quantitative approaches, which is intentional. We intend to avoid the pitfalls of reinforcing paradigmatic divisions within the discipline, working instead to offer the best examples of empirical work that accurately reflects the multitude of tools available to sociologists and their implementation in the field. We intend to combine rigour with inclusivity, which is reflected in an editorial board that is diverse in terms of method, methodology and the intersection of the two.

Second, we intend to underline the relevance of sociology to society more broadly. The social policy dimension of the editorship entails inclusion of work that explores the application of the sociological lens to real-world concerns. This builds upon an existing record of published work in the IJS in this vein and seeks to underline the relevance of sociology for readers outside of the discipline.

Third, we envision IJS also to be an outlet for high-quality theoretical work, operating at the intersection of social science and the humanities. Therefore, we encourage submissions from the fields of intellectual history, current debates and critiques of the discipline. A second component of the theoretical inclusivity encompasses work that provides a resource and reference to sociologists working in higher education. We encourage submissions that consider disciplinary, inter-disciplinary, intra-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches to teaching sociology.

Table of Contents: Current Issue

Articles

• Whiteness and racism: Examining the racial order in Ireland
  Ebun Joseph
  First Published October 26, 2017; pp. 46–70