FROM THE EDITOR WITH the current number, the Social Scientist moves into its second year of publication. The wide-ranging response from readers and contributors alike slowly set at rest the apprehensions initially entertained by many friends about the prospects of a journal like the Social Scientist. The number of readers increased with every month that passed. They not only sent in their comments and criticisms but also expressed righteous indignation when an issue was delayed in the press or the post. The contributors kept up a steady flow of their best work. It is this kind of support that moves us to carry on the good work regardless of obstacles and to fulfil some, if not most, of the expectations of the Social Scientist. At a time when the ruling classes, in full control of the mass media, are assiduously bent on monopolising the realm of ideology and culture with pseudo-scientific ideas and 'left5 phraseology the Social Scientist has tried to present the problems of our society in a scientific socialist perspective. In helping to support and develop new sources of information, analysis and debate on questions of contemporary practice and theory in the social sciences, we have published contributions from not only recognised experts but also many newcomers, some of them still in the post-graduate departments of the Indian universities. This journal may not appeal to those who write simply for their self-interest or self-promotion, because it does not belong to a group of intellectuals detached from the society in which they live. In fact, it belongs to those who have dedicated themselves to the complete transformation of this society. It belongs to those who, concerned with the socio-economic and cultural problems, seek scientific tools of analysis of these problems and in presenting their analysis resist the conservative, obscurantist and irrational approaches prevalent in the humanities today.