Short presentation

La Revue nou­velle is a month­ly maga­zine that tackles a wide range of topics. Based in Brus­sels, it covers social, poli­ti­cal, eco­no­mic, cultu­ral, lite­ra­ry, artis­tic and reli­gious issues. Foun­ded in 1945, its ini­tial pur­pose is more per­ti­nent than ever : to bring about an exchange of ideas and a mul­ti­fa­ce­ted approach to today’s world. It has become increa­sin­gly appa­rent that demo­cra­cy extends beyond the ins­ti­tu­tions and imple­men­ta­tion of poli­ti­cal deci­sions to which we tend to reduce it. The pri­ma­ry aim of La Revue nou­velle is to fos­ter our demo­cra­tic ethos and culture as a sha­red way of thin­king, free from the dog­ma and ideo­lo­gy that all too often dominate.

The reso­lu­te­ly French-spea­king Bel­gian roots of La Revue nou­vel­le’s edi­to­rial poli­cy invite debate in a context where plat­forms for tru­ly free speech are few. Over­sha­do­wed by the rise of Fle­mish iden­ti­ty, lef­tist in a right-wing world, La Revue nou­velle can be defi­ned on seve­ral counts as a mino­ri­ty publi­ca­tion. It is the­re­fore dedi­ca­ted to cla­ri­fying conflicts as well as to crea­ti­vi­ty, open­ness to inno­va­tion and their trans­la­tion into ori­gi­nal propositions.

La Revue nou­velle was foun­ded in 1945, just after World War Two, in the moral and intel­lec­tual tur­bu­lence of the libe­ra­tion. It has long been situa­ted to the left of the mains­tream “Bel­gian Chris­tian world”. Since its incep­tion, La Revue nou­velle has publi­shed more than 600 edi­tions at a rate of 10 per year. Among its ana­lyses, some mar­ked a miles­tone in his­to­ry and contri­bu­ted to the maga­zi­ne’s noto­rie­ty : deco­lo­ni­za­tion, the fight for free­dom of edu­ca­tion, femi­nism, social secu­ri­ty and health poli­cy, the evo­lu­tion of the Chris­tian world, ana­ly­sis of the poli­ti­cal par­ties, State reform, immi­gra­tion, ethi­cal ques­tions, the Israel-Pales­tine conflict, eco­lo­gy… Today, the “pro­gres­sive” nature of the maga­zine and its inde­pen­dence from ins­ti­tu­tions and ideo­lo­gies link it stron­gly to a vision of jus­tice, free­dom, cultu­ral res­pect and willin­gness to listen.

Today, La Revue nou­velle enjoys public sup­port in the form of press sub­si­dies which conti­nue to ensure its abso­lute free­dom of expres­sion. Since 2008 and fol­lo­wing the ins­pi­ra­tion of direc­tor Luc Van Cam­pen­hout, this sta­bi­li­ty, along with a loyal rea­der­ship, has enabled La Revue nou­velle to be made avai­lable in a new for­mat. Hen­ce­forth each edi­tion will consist, in addi­tion to the edi­to­rial intro­duc­tion, of a main the­med sec­tion, some in-depth articles, a sec­tion with brief com­men­ta­ries on cur­rent affairs, a sec­tion where wri­ters have free rein, an article revie­wing work of refe­rence and a lite­ra­ry contri­bu­tion. The maga­zi­ne’s edi­to­rial com­mit­tee is made up of resear­chers, jour­na­lists, wri­ters and people acti­ve­ly invol­ved in non pro­fit organizations.