Guest Introduction to the Thirtieth Anniversary Issue: Adventures of a Manifesto for Critical Studies

摘要

The same year that the Journal of Communication Inquiry (JCI) was preparing to launch its 1974, mimeographed inaugural issue, a European philosopher's book on controversies in metascience reached its final edition for an English-language audience. "The intellectual life cycle of some researchers," its author wrote, "resembles that of sea-corals: When young they swim in the ocean. Then they become sedentary and calcification sets in. But they live in a fairly secure niche" (Radnitzky 1973, xxiv). The metaphor highlights restricted circulation as fields of study age, promoting the durability of traditions over exploration.