Blog Restructuring

               I had thought about restructuring the theme of the blog of a few weeks now, especially after realizing that most of the people who enjoyed reading the blog told me that they thought it was broader than simply “American” history.  Originally I had intended for the blog to be exclusive to my area of expertise, which is the history of American Communism as a movement and organized political system in North America from the late 19^th century up to the present.  Since then, however, I have found that the real purpose of a blog is to simply present yourself and your work how you would do so publicly.  As such, I have decided to undergo some thematic restructuring.

                The first major change is the name, which I have chosen based on some suggestions to be “The Red Historian.”  This personalizes the blog, makes it clear that it’s me making the statements and arguments and not some broad peer-reviewed consensus of what is or what is not “American Communism.”  The next major change is the type of posts that will be submitted to the blog.  In keeping with a changing attitude about history as a “book discipline,” I am going to start publishing more generalized articles about history that would otherwise serve well in a journal.  This is not to say that peer-reviewed journals are not a good thing; they very much are.  It is important for scholars and academics to continue to utilize the fellowship community as a means for perfecting our own understandings; but we should not expect the general public to do the same.

                The average citizen is either unaware of or incapable of paying the dues for the existing academic, peer-reviewed journals.  Some of the most important journals in the field of historical materialism ironically (or perhaps hypocritically) charge some of the most astronomical fees just to get a glimpse at the high intellectualism of Marxism and Left History.  More and more these journals relegate themselves to the confines of the academy, and rarely are attempts made to breach their studies into the broad masses.  That is where the individual historian and the blog format come in.  While intellectuals and academics continue to engage with one another in their own spheres of peer-reviewed publications, they should also serve society at large by publishing and releasing (for free) their thoughts and views on various topics.  This can help bridge the discussions currently relegated to the Ivory Tower into the broader streams of society.

                I hope this change will be welcomed by those who already read this blog, and hopefully people will be equally supportive of this call to fellow scholars.  Let’s make start education in the 21^st century right…by remembering who we’re learning all of this stuff for; because it certainly isn’t just ourselves.