The Journal of Right-Wing Studies, or JRWS, launched on Friday in a round-table discussion hosted by UC Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies, or CRWS.

The CRWS ideated the journal about a year ago and following its conception, developed a staff and editorial board. According to JRWS editor-in-chief, chair of the CRWS and co-host of the event Dr. Lawrence Rosenthal, the purpose of the journal is three-fold: to formalize right-wing studies, to provide a platform and support researchers in the field and to fill the gap in right-wing research.

The academic journal will be “non-ideological,” and is looking to promote research, dialogue and debate on right-wing politics in the past, present and across the world according to their website.

During the launch event, Rosenthal briefly introduced the journal. Guest speakers then discussed their research and, in their perspective, the state of “right-wing” politics and the field of study today.

“It astonishes me, the transformation of the right in these years. Back then, the right was dominated by thinkers like George W. Bush and Silvio Berlusconi, who seem almost quaint these days,” Rosenthal said during the event. “Ideas and movements that were on the fringe back then, the stuff of tiny parties and seething exurbanites … have now come into dominant roles in national and international politics.”

Rosenthal noted in an interview that the main objective of the CRWS has been to establish right-wing studies as a “bonafide academic subject.” The center has hosted multiple conferences over the past years and, as Rosenthal labels it, the CRWS is a “research hub” for right-wing academics and a space for people of diverse backgrounds studying the questions of the right wing.

As part of the ensuing speaker series made up of scholars of right-wing studies, Dr. Carole Joffe, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UCSF, discussed the intersection between her research in gender and politics and abortion access and right-wing movements.

“In simplest terms, the field of right wing studies involves scholarly investigation of right wing movements, both domestically and globally,” Joffe said in an email. “For many years, I have studied various facets of the conflicts concerning reproductive health, particularly abortion and contraception.”

Following Joffe, various speakers similarly shared their research in right-wing politics.

Rosenthal noted that the JRWS will act as a space for such research to be shared and sourced, not only for people in the field, but also for the general public.

“The launching of the Journal of Right-Wing Studies seems to me to be a major development in the continuing establishment of right-wing studies,” Rosenthal said at the event.