The introduction to the special issue of Sociologia del lavoro written for its forty years of publications (1978-2018), was the occasion for the entire editorial staff, whose members have been working collectively for many years, to retrace the most representative moments that characterized the life of the Journal. In the first part, the deepening concerned with the reasons of its born, its remarkable role on the transformations of Italian and non-Italian work, its national and international networks which have been and still operate on these themes, its public and international vocation, up to the main themes that have characterized its publications. In the second part, they are exposed the perspectives of the Journal and its need for transformation of some organizational and scientific aspects. Lastly, in the third part, the themes more relevant of the essays published in this special issue have been presented, linking them to the history of the Journal and to its specific characteristics.
Keywords: Sociology of work, organisational systems, international vocation, pluralism, transversality

Barbara Barabaschi, Vando Borghi, Federico Chicchi, Barbara Giullari, Giorgio Gosetti, Michele La Rosa, Enrica Morlicchio, Francesco Pirone, Roberto Rizza, Laura Zanfrini, An Introduction in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 149 suppl./2018, pp. 13-36, DOI:10.3280/SL2018-149S04