Our focus is on preserving the integrity and ownership of author's works, without sacrificing accessibility to the reading public. At Plum, we hold a more esoteric belief in what the academic discursive process ought to be for the philosopher or theorist. Our personal philosophy is that academic discourse, specifically relating to new, exciting, and experimental theoretical directives should happe
n AFTER the work is read, enjoyed, refuted, or interpreted. That is why we propose our protocol of radically stepping away from the 'positivism fe**sh' of traditional academic publications. That is, we do not operate on a traditionally scientific methodology of 'peer-review'. All too often in the publishing world, peer-review practices of philosophical or theoretical work result in potentially new, radical, and ground-breaking ideas to be melded to conform to the established conventions of the field. We instead turn our gaze back to a time when the subtle art of theorizing was respected as a concoction of eccentricities that led to some of the most monumental advances in human thinking. No Peer-Review? This Goes Against Every Academic Norm! This is not to say we are not without standards, however. Rather, our books run through a rigorous process of academic review, but with the preservation of the voice of the author being the top-tier priority. That is to say, within reason, we focus less on the content of theoretical work, and more on its composition, communicability, and publishability of it. We hold the belief that it is for the reading community to establish a judgment of the credibility and reputability of the work within their direct engagement within it, not by simply trusting the "peer-reviewed stamp of approval". Submitted work is reviewed with the utmost care to ensure that it meets the standards of publication for academic texts, but it is our philosophy that we do not intend to change, modify, or adapt the original author's content in order to mirror disciplinary discursive norms. So You'll Publish Anything Then? There is a selection process based on criteria for publishability that includes strict ethical adherence to the governing norms of social science and philosophy. That is to say, that radical texts are allowed, but Plum does not and will not publish manuscripts that directly incite hate or intolerance on the basis of race, gender, s*xuality, ethnicity, class, s*x, or ability. Giving the Reigns of Theorizing Back to the Theorists:
Plum honors the subtle art of theorizing above all else and recognizes the myriad of manic eccentricities that lend to the composition of radically transformative theory and philosophy. Plum represents a place wherein authors may take experimental risks with their theorizing, without the fear of disciplinary boundaries barring their work from public consumption. In essence, it is a publishing house that operates as the theorist's sandbox, a totally free universe wherein one may open the floodgates of epistemological and ontological development for the shared goal of progressing the shared collective experience of humanity into the future.
