This special issue of Critical Sociology celebrates the beginning of the journal when it was called The Insurgent Sociologist. Edited versions of influential articles that appeared in the 1960’s and 1970’s, have been supplemented by an update by the author(s). Original articles about Capitalism and Word Economy, Race and Gender, Power and Class, Labor Class and Ideology. They show the impact of the authors on sociology over the years and try to inspire a new generation of critical sociologists.