Culture: A New Open Access Journal

Culture is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to the timely dissemination of pioneering research that interrogates and reconfigures the conditions of cultural life. It focuses on four interrelated domains: the historical trajectories and epistemological foundations of intercultural communication; the contemporary rearticulations of cultural heritage; critical investigations into specific episodes within the longue durée of cultural history; and the theoretical and institutional dynamics that shape cultural policy and the cultural industries. Culture, in its most generative sense, has historically functioned as a medium of civic encounter—a site wherein conflict is negotiated, new imaginaries emerge, and social solidarities are forged. In this spirit, Culture seeks to host a diverse array of inquiries into cultural politics, cultural economies, the historicity of symbolic forms, and the evolving practices of public diplomacy.

We have founded this journal with the aim of creating a genuinely interdisciplinary platform for the critical study of culture. While we privilege original research that demonstrates conceptual innovation and theoretical ambition, we also welcome analytically rigorous research reports and case studies that meet high scholarly standards and contribute meaningfully to cross-disciplinary dialog.

Each year, we will curate special issues that respond to emerging questions and foster intellectual exchange both within and beyond disciplinary boundaries. Our broader vision is to support research into cultural phenomena—whether historical or contemporary—that combines methodological clarity with theoretical depth.

At a historical moment marked by epistemic uncertainty and the fragmentation of global imaginaries, we are increasingly attuned to the multiplicity of interpretive frameworks through which culture is understood and contested. Rather than pursuing a singular explanatory model, we embrace the heterogeneity that sustains the vitality of the humanities, the social sciences, and adjacent fields. In this light, culture is not a stable object of analysis, but a dynamic and contested site—structured by tensions, discontinuities, and undecidable meanings.

Yet, plurality need not foreclose dialog. On the contrary, it invites us to imagine new conditions for relational engagement—not through the erasure of difference, but through critical translation, mutual recognition, and the collaborative labor of thought. Such dialogical praxis demands both the courage to dissent and the ethical commitment to engage with alterity in its irreducible specificity. We regard this as central to the ethos of scholarship.

Our affirmation of cultural pluralism is not a celebration of mere coexistence, but a normative investment in dialogical responsibility. In this framework, academic freedom is not only a procedural safeguard but a constitutive condition of critical inquiry—especially when cultural production intersects with political antagonisms and the sedimented violence of historical trauma.

It is precisely within such contested terrains that cultural analysis regains its urgency—not as an exercise in abstraction, but as a form of ethical and theoretical engagement with the world.

To that end, we have adopted an open access publishing model—not simply for pragmatic reasons, but as an expression of epistemic justice. We are fully aware of the tensions inherent in publishing in English, the current lingua franca of global scholarship. Nevertheless, we see this choice as a means of enabling transregional conversation, particularly with scholars working in historically marginalized epistemic communities across the Global South. In our view, accessibility is inseparable from the ethics of intellectual hospitality.

All submissions to the journal undergo rigorous peer review, ensuring that the publication process upholds the high standards of scholarly integrity and transparency. We strongly encourage submissions from authors across disciplines, geographies, and theoretical traditions—particularly work that challenges disciplinary conventions, raises difficult questions, or opens up new sites of inquiry.

In this era of widespread short video content, we are well aware that access to knowledge has never been more convenient. Our aim is to leverage open access to make knowledge dissemination even more accessible. To this end, we are considering creating short videos on social media platforms to summarize important articles or interview authors and reviewers about their research journeys. Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that academic research findings receive greater attention and become more valuable in the digital age of mass communication. This requires the active support of authors, reviewers and other academic colleagues, since it is a joint endeavor.

We are honored to collaborate with MDPI, a globally respected open-access publisher whose digital publications are part of the Swiss National Library’s long-term archive, contributing to the preservation and accessibility of scientific literature in Switzerland. In an age of digital volatility, algorithmic suppression, and the commodification of knowledge, such infrastructures of memory are more vital than ever. The preservation of scholarly work—its integrity, its public availability, and its resistance to erasure—is one of our core commitments.

In defiance of prevailing tendencies toward technocratic rationality, neoliberal acceleration, and affective dislocation, we continue to believe in culture as both ballast and horizon: a source of critical reflection, imagination, and resistance. Cultural studies, as we understand it, must retain a critical force that exceeds instrumental reason and reclaims the space of thought as a site of public and ethical concern.

We warmly invite scholars from across the disciplines, languages, and intellectual traditions to join us in this shared endeavor. Our inaugural issue is scheduled for publication in June 2026—an occasion that marks not a culmination, but the beginning of a long-term project to help shape a more just, dialogical, and intellectually vibrant global ecology of thought.