This journal owes its origins to Philippe Besnard, and his initiative in creating from his base in Paris the internationally circulated Bulletin d'études durkheimiennes, produced by him over many years (1977–1987). In going on to become Durkheim Studies in 1988, it remained an internationally distributed bulletin, but now mainly in English and organized in the USA under the direction of Robert Alun Jones. It migrated once again in 1995, to develop as a bilingual journal, Durkheimian Studies / Études durkheimiennes, organized from Britain under a team headed by Bill Pickering and Willie Watts Miller. With this volume we are honoured to assume the editorship of Durkheimian Studies / Études durkheimiennes and in doing so want to acknowledge the legacy of our predecessors.

We also use the change for renewal. The journal has long benefited from the support of a distinguished editorial board. It has now been expanded to not only broaden its international composition, but especially to welcome younger colleagues. Our aim is to expand the reach and scope of scholarship on Durkheim and the Durkheimians through a worldwide network of researchers in this field.

The journal will continue to publish, in French and English, peer-reviewed articles and remain especially committed to its remit of making French-language texts and research available in English to an audience that may otherwise not discover these works. Sometimes, texts will be published in both English and French so that all readers can access them. This will also be an opportunity to address the problem of translation.

These contributions can take various forms, including thematic essays, along with original investigations, sketches of conceptual reasoning, new theoretical pathways and debates revolving around Durkheimian matters. Indeed, an aim is to develop a section called ‘Controversies and Debates’, offering the possibility of sustained, informed critique. Another plan is for a ‘research update’ – une veille scientifique – that reports on the current state of Durkheimian studies in a given area or country. A reviews section will continue to offer insights into particular publications or other academic works, such as theses, which make a significant contribution to the field. Above all, we wish to go on making available a mass of unpublished documents – archives, letters, photographs – that bring to light the evolution of numerous different research projects over time. As such, the journal's development is bound up in many ways with the digital revolution, and as part of this a website to accompany the journal's own online platform is in progress to provide researchers both with a Durkheimian database and with additional archival material.

Jean-Christophe Marcel

Matthieu Béra

Jean-François Bert

François Pizarro Noël