About the Journal

The South Atlantic Quarterly, founded amid controversy in 1901, provides bold analyses of the current intellectual scene, both nationally and worldwide. Published exclusively in guest-edited special issues, this award-winning centenarian journal features some of the most prominent contemporary writers and scholars tackling urgent political, cultural, and social questions. Some issues grow out of current academic debates, concerning, for example, the growing power of finance, narratives of black leadership, and the politics of austerity.

Each issue of SAQ also features a second thematic section composed of short essays that engage a topic of contemporary political importance. The title of this section, “Against the Day,” is meant to highlight both the modes of activism and the specific occasion that the essays address.

"It's not easy to be both daring and indispensable, but SAQ has consistently been both. It has stretched its readers politically and geographically, setting a distinctive standard for its seriousness of thought and worldliness of topics."—Bruce Robbins, Columbia University

"Among the countless journals now bidding for our scarce attention, SAQ is a sure bet. Quite simply one of the best sources of new ideas in political thought, social motion, and human mentality."—Andrew Ross, New York University