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During the daylong seminar, experts from the field charted out the past, present and future of the journal and also studied it in relation to the state of the discipline itself.

Inaugurating the symposium, Professor T.N. Madan, an editor of “Contributions” for long, recounted the history of the journal since its inception under the editorship of David Pocock and Louis Dumont in 1957. Madan traced the journey of the journal when the old series ended and the new series was born 40 years ago, with him as the editor.

“Contributions” is a tri-annual publication and features research and review articles on Sociology in India. It is also a platform for young scholars to publish their articles. “The journal combines theoretically sophisticated analysis with meticulous empirical research,” says Amita Baviskar, one of the current editors of the journal. “Many distinguished sociologists and anthropologists have had their first publication in this journal,” she adds.

The journal has played a key role in documenting and debating the changes in the Indian Sociology scene. While the speakers analysed the role of the journal in the academic scene, some others also viewed its role quite critically.

Tanka Subba of the North-Eastern Hill University, currently associated with “Contributions”, was of the opinion that the journal should improve its reference value. Suggesting ways to enhance the journal’s visibility, Subba also said the Internet presence of “Contributions” should be made more prominent. Scholars like Satish Deshpande, N. Jayaram, Surinder Jodhka and Carol Upadhya also shared their views on the subject and the journal.

The “explosion” of social science journals and their target audience was the topic of discussion among various journal editors. Editors of social science journals, Neeladri Bhattacharya, Dilip Menon, Rammanohar Reddy, Patricia Uberoi and Sunanda Ghosh voiced their opinions on the changing nature of social science research and the issue of funding and competition among journals.

But Baviskar is clear about the challenges faced by “Contributions.”

“The challenge before the journal is to maintain international standards of quality while allowing space for young researchers, especially those from under-privileged backgrounds, to publish their work,” she says.

“In a world where journals are getting more and more specialised, and where reading (and writing) serious scholarly work is a dying art, and attention spans are constantly getting reduced, the task before Contributions is to retain and expand its readership,” Baviskar is candid.

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