In the post-war era of decolonisation and internationalisation, the International Sociological Association was founded in 1948 on the initiative of UNESCO to bring social science knowledge to bear on contemporary issues. Four years later, in 1952, Current Sociology was founded as a bibliographic journal and trend reports providing lists of sociological publications around the world and reviewing them.

Over seven decades have passed, and Current Sociology has grown to become one of the top sociology journals in the world. The year 2024 marked another milestone, as the Association has appointed Feng Qiushi, Daniel Goh, Kelvin Low and Joonmo Son as the thirteenth editors of the journal. The four sociologists from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology make history as the journal’s first Asia-based editors and first editorial quartet.

In their editorial for the 70^th Anniversary e-special of Current Sociology in 2022, outgoing editors Karim Murji and Sarah Neal wrote, “As sociologists, we note that the current in the title of the journal provides an intriguing and sometimes challenging angle to the purpose and role of this journal.” The NUS quartet is committed to building on the work of Murji and Neal to tackle the challenge and bring the journal to greater heights.

In the post-globalisation era of heightened geopolitical tensions and socioeconomic conflicts, the NUS quartet see the purpose of Current Sociology in bringing current social science insights to bear on the world as more urgent than ever. Their plans can be summarised as improving access to the journal for sociologists and the public at large across the regions of the world. They seek to do this in three ways: exploring interdisciplinary developments in scholarship, engaging regional sociological associations, and expanding the journal’s social media and online footprint for greater social impact.

As quartets go, like their musical counterpart, the NUS editorial quartet offers a diversity of expertise and experience to be harmonised into compelling pieces. FASS wishes them inspiration and success.