Politix, 1988-2012: Generational Change, Paradigm Shift

Since its creation in 1988, Politix has evolved considerably. In twenty-five years, a new generation has replaced the founding one and a new paradigm has emerged, replacing the previous one. Originally a journal devoted to critical political sociology, Politix has progressively adopted the international standards of social sciences publication. For a long time, the journal had been dominated by a constructivist approach; now constructivism is either criticized or ignored. Whereas most of the first issues of Politix included many historical papers, recent issues mostly focus on non socio-historical studies and contemporary case studies on other countries. Empiricism, little valued in the past, has now become a core subject. Recently published research is also much more cumulative. Although the journal was focused on critical approaches of political science's canons for a long time, it now addresses new research fields. Inquiries inspired by the sociology of science explain the profound change of this journal that kept the same title, the same presentation and the same way of working. This article offers a research agenda for such inquiries.