China to host new international disaster research programme co-sponsored by the International Social Science Council

The International Programme Office for the new international programme, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) will be established in Beijing at the Headquarters of the Center for Earth Observation and Digital Earth (CEODE) - the first time an international office of this type has been hosted in Asia. The IRDR is a major new 10-year international research programme co-sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN ISDR) and the ISSC. It aims to provide answers to the growing global problem of disasters and how countries can reduce the root causes of disaster risk. In a break from past approaches, it will combine diverse expertise and perspectives into one coordinated effort, drawing on the natural, socio-economic, health and engineering sciences. […more]
November 2009

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IHDP Appoints Dr Anantha Duraiappah as its New Executive Director

The International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) which is co-sponsored by the International Social Science Council (ISSC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Anantha Kumar Duraiappah as its new Executive Director. Dr Duraiappah, an environmental-development economist with more than two decades of experience at the international level, will assume his new position in January 2010. […more]
November 2009

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Vacancy Announcement: ESSP Science Officer

The Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) is delighted to announce an employment opportunity: Science Officer, ESSP Office, Paris, France. The ESSP Science Officer will facilitate the advancement of the Partnership and the implementation of its activities under the guidance of the ESSP Scientific Committee and Executive Officer.

For more information see PDF.

Deadline for applications: 7 December 2009.
November 2009

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A scholarly giant has moved on

The International Social Science Council (ISSC) pays tribute to the anthropologist, and first Secretary-General of the ISSC, Claude Lévi-Strauss.

"Claude Lévi-Strauss was a scholar who fundamentally transformed our understanding of social relations, searching for those universals expressing the structural unity of humanity behind all cultural diversity" says Professor Gudmund Hernes, President of the International Social Science Council (ISSC). "He attempted to make sense of the world in terms of binary opposites, and moved the frontiers of social science by generating critique, controversy and opposition. He set research agendas for all social science disciplines and continues to inspire and challenge social science thinking throughout the world".

Claude Lévi-Strauss was not just an interpreter of structures; he was also a builder of them. As the first Secretary-General of the ISSC, he promoted inter-disciplinary and comparative research and brought scholars together from all continents for engaged discourse and exchange. He not only taught universal motifs and myths in human diversity but also advanced social science as a joint global enterprise for the benefit of humanity.

The ISSC mourns the passing of Claude Lévi-Strauss, but celebrates his extraordinary achievements.
November 2009

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ISSC calls for nominations for the annual Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research

Announcement and Information re. candidates for the XVth (2010) Annual Prize

The prize is open to all social science disciplines. The prize is awarded to a submission that is deemed by the Jury to be a very substantial and original contribution in comparative social science research. It can be either an unpublished manuscript of book length, or a printed book, or collected works published no more than two years before the award ceremony is to take place. The prize is €5000.

The deadline for submission of nominations is 1 February, 2010. For candidate eligibility, submission requirements and further background information see here
October 2009

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ISSC’s World Social Science Forum, 2009: Audio files from the Forum are now posted on the ISSC website

All the available audio files from the May 2009 WSSF in Bergen are now posted on the ISSC website here.

Where available, speakers’ PowerPoint presentations have also been included.
October 2009

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ISSC issues 2009 WSSF Report and a 'Call' for the next WSSF

A Summary Report on the ISSC’s successful 1st World Social Science Forum (WSSF) is now available on the ISSC website here.

As explained in the Report, the May 2009 WSSF was envisaged as the first in a series of such fora.

A call has been circulated by the ISSC to its members and partners, asking any who would be interested in hosting and co-organising the 2nd WSSF to express such interest by October 19th, 2009.  The parameters to be followed for the next event are described in the “Call” document, available here.

The intellectual content of the May 2009 WSSF (audio files, abstracts and PPPs, as available) is being edited, and will begin to appear on this website during September here.
September 2009

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Earth System Research Visioning Process

The International Council for Science (ICSU) has launched an initiative aimed at developing a vision and future strategy for earth system research. This “visioning process” will comprise several phases, the first of which focuses on the development of a draft research strategy for global environmental change research. ICSU has invited the international scientific community to participate in the development of such a strategy via a web-based consultation process.

The ISSC is cooperating with ICSU in conducting the visioning process. We want to ensure that the social sciences are well represented throughout the process so that the full range of new and important questions and concerns that social scientists bring to global environmental change research are heard and taken into account.

We encourage all our members and partners in global social science to participate in the web-based consultation and thus to help shape the scientific outcomes of the visioning process. The consultation will be open until 15 August 2009.
July 2009

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ISSC’s first WSSF convenes in Bergen, Norway

The ISSC’s 1st World Social Science Forum entitled “One Planet – Worlds Apart?” convened in Bergen, Norway from 10 to 12 May 2009, with more than 800 participants from some 80 countries.

Initial feedback from participants suggests that the Forum was very successful, and a formal process of evaluation is underway (see evaluation form here).

The Forum was recorded in its entirety and the audio-visual recordings will be made available via the ISSC website after editing, as well as Powerpoint presentations, abstracts and photographs. Access to this material will become possible during July and August.

See photograph of opening ceremony here
May 2009

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Social scientist Atilio Alberto Borón (Argentina) wins UNESCO International José Martí Prize

Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of UNESCO, has awarded the 2009 UNESCO International José Martí Prize to Atilio Alberto Borón, former Executive Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and former Member of the ISSC Executive Committee.

The Prize will be presented during a ceremony in Havana (Cuba) on 17th July. The José Martí Prize was conferred upon Atilio Alberto Borón to reward his tireless intellectual commitment to the unity and integration of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as his contribution to the study and promotion of José Marti's thinking. […more]
May 2009

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ISSC’s first WSSF to start on 10th May

The ISSC’s World Social Science Forum opens in Bergen, Norway, on Sunday 10th May, and concludes on Tuesday evening, 12th May.

Some 800 participants have now registered, including some 175 speakers. Full details of the Theme, the Programme and Schedule, the topics for the various Plenary and Parallel Sessions, and the invited speakers, are to be found here or by clicking the flashing weblink block at top-right on this page.

The 3 days of the Forum will be anticipated and followed by a wide range of side-meetings in Bergen, including a meeting of the ISSC Executive Committee, and meetings of the Editorial Board for the World Social Science Report, 2010.
May 2009

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IHDP Open Meeting 2009 starting

The 7th Open Meeting of the International Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change started on April 26 in Bonn, Germany and will continue until April 30, 2009. The theme of this Open Meeting of the IHDP, “Social Challenges of Global Change,” responds to important changes in the perspective of the scientific community on the challenges that we are currently facing and outlines the new research agenda for IHDP’s second decade. The scientific framework of the meeting consists of three components: (1) four major social challenges, that is, demographic challenges, limitations of resources and ecosystem services, establishing social cohesion while increasing equity at various levels and adapting institutions to address global change (2) specific issue areas, such as water, land, food, climate change, coastal zones, institutions, technology or urbanization (3) crosscutting themes such as system changes and transition relationships between different scales, the role of perceptions and values and directions of research to address these issues.
At the opening ceremony, participants representing 80 countries were welcomed by eminent personalities such as the German State Secretary of Education and Research, the Mayor of Bonn as well as Heide Hackmann, Secretary-General of the ISSC who spoke on behalf of the programme's three sponsors: the International Social Science Council, the International Council for Science and the United Nations University. For more information about the meeting, and to see photos of the Opening Ceremony, please visit: http://www.openmeeting2009.org/Photo_galleries/Opening_Ceremony.html
April 2009

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2008 and 2009 Stein Rokkan Prize Laureates announced

The Jury of the ISSC XIIIth and XIVth Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research has decided to award the 2008 prize to Prof. Cas Mudde (University of Antwerp, Belgium) for his book “Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe’. The 2009 prize was awarded to a group of collaborating authors: Robert E. Goodin (Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Australia), James Mahmud Rice (Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Australia) , Antti Parpo (Somero Social and Health Services, Finland) and Lina Eriksson (Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Australia) for their book ‘Discretionary Time. A New Measure of Freedom’.
The Award Ceremony will take place during the first World Social Science Forum (WSSF), which will be held in Bergen, Norway from May 10 to 12, 2009. […more]
March 2009

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Pictures of the 27th ISSC General Assembly

Pictures of the 27th ISSC General Assembly, held on November 24-26, 2008, in Cape Town, South Africa are now available here
February 2009

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Seventh International Science Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change to be held in Bonn from 26 to 30 April 2009

A truly international and interdisciplinary group of over 1000 scientists, journalists, government officials, decision-makers as well as leading representatives from the private sector, key institutes, international organisations and NGOs are expected to attend the 7th Open Meeting at the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany, on 26-30 April 2009. […more]
February 2009

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Vacancy Announcement: IHDP Executive Director

The United Nations University (UNU), the International Council for Science (ICSU), and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) invite applications for the position of Executive Director of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). IHDP is an international and interdisciplinary scientific programme, focusing on the social and human dimensions of environmental change […more]
January 2009

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Second meeting of the International Forum of Funding Agencies (IFFA) for research in the social sciences

On November 29, 2008 the National Research Foundation of South Africa hosted the second meeting of the International Forum of Funding Agencies (IFFA). The meeting took place in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and brought together senior officials representing research funding councils to discuss key policy issues related to promoting social science research […more]
December 2008

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ISSC welcomes new members

At its 27th meeting, the ISSC General Assembly unanimously accepted the following organisations into the Council's membership:

• The Society for Social Studies of Science as Member Association
  
• The British Academy as Member Organization
• The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters as a Member Organization
• The Joseph Rowntree Foundation as Associate Member
  
• The Nuffield Foundation as Associate Member […more]
  November 2008
  

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ISSC General Assembly elects senior officers

The ISSC General Assembly re-elected Gudmund Hernes as its President. The Vice-Presidents and other Executive Board members, reflecting ISSC's global reach, are as follows […more]
November 2008

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ISSC General Assembly adopts "roadmap" resolutions for the next biennium, and beyond

Three resolutions were passed, with acclaim, by the ISSC's 27th GA:
(1) affirming the ISSC's commitment to the development of Social Sciences in the African region, and to the future development of social science in other regions of the global “south”
(2) adopting the thematic focus of "One Planet, Worlds Apart" as the Headline framing for ISSC’s activities in pursuit of its Action Agenda, and
(3) responding with enthusiasm to the October 2008 decision of ICSU to collaborate closely with ISSC […more]
November 2008

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ISSC's 27th General Assembly meets in Cape Town

The ISSC held its biennial General Assembly (GA) meeting in Cape Town from November 24-26, 2008. The General Assembly is ISSC's highest governance structure, and representatives of ISSC's member bodies met to review progress on ISSC's 5-year Action Agenda, to elect the ISSC Officers, and to plan and endorse Programme activities for the coming biennium.The GA was held in tandem with the GA of the Council for the Philosophical and Human Sciences (CIPHS), and in conjunction with the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa's Symposium on "Knowledge and Transformation: Social and Human Sciences in Africa”.
November 2008

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Cooperation with the natural sciences

ISSC Secretary General, Heide Hackmann, represented the Council during the 29th General Assembly Meeting of ICSU (the International Council for Science), which was held on October 19 – 27 in Maputo, Mozambique.
One of the key outcomes of this meeting was a commitment by ICSU to the need to work more closely with the social sciences. In a report entitled ‘Enhancing Involvement of Social Sciences in ICSU’ social sciences are identified as being essential for the implementation of the ICSU Strategic Plan 2006-2011.
[…more]
November 2008

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The XXVIIth General Assembly

The XXVIIth General Assembly (GA) of the ISSC is being held at the Spier Conference Center, outside Stellenbosch in Cape Town, South Africa, as an extended event from from 24 to 28 November 2008.
The 25/26 November GA meeting, (which is the highest decision-making body of the ISSC), will be followed by a one and a half day scientific symposium on , on November 27/28, organized jointly with the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (CIPSH, which is ISSC’s parallel in the Human Sciences), and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC, which is the South African National Research agency for both Social Science and the Humanities).
[…more]
November 2008

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The ISSC’s World Social Science Forum takes shape

The process of setting up the ISSC’s first WSSF, scheduled for May 10-12 2009 in Bergen, Norway, is moving ahead at full speed, and it is already clear that the result will be a highly memorable and vibrant event in the Social Science world.

The status of the topics and speakers (who include 2 Nobel Prize winners) for the plenaries can be seen here and the shortlist of the topics for the proposed Parallel Sessions (currently 30 are under discussion) may be seen here. As the panelists who have accepted to speak in the Parallel Sessions are finalized, they will be posted on the WSSF Bergen website where the full descriptions of the many proposed topics may be accessed.
October 2008

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Strategies against poverty: designs from the North and alternatives from the South

The ISSC sponsors the Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP), which is holding a workshop on Strategies against poverty: designs from the North and alternatives from the South in Addis Abbaba , Ethiopia, on February 4-6, 2009. The objective of the workshop is to bring about a comparative, critical and multidisciplinary understanding of the theoretical frameworks and practices which were/are put forward as solutions to poverty in the South. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 24 November 2008. […more]
October 2008

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Global Research Seminar: Sharing Research Agendas on Knowledge Systems

Alongside ICSU, ISSC is represented on the coordinating committee for the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge, which is organizing a Global Research Seminar to be held in Paris on 28-30 November, 2008. The objective of this event is to provide an arena for researchers to discuss new and ongoing research, identify research gaps and suggest new research agendas on systems of higher education, research and knowledge; with a view to forging closer links between the research communities and UNESCO in these fields. Research organisations and researchers actively involved in studying research, knowledge and higher education systems are invited to submit abstracts. The deadline for submission of papers is 20 September, 2008. […more]
August 2008

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ISSC circulates “red alert” letter to ISSC membership

In early July, the ISSC Secretariat distributed an urgent alert to ISSC members, asking them to plan their 2009 activities in a way that will allow maximum participation at the World Social Science Forum in Norway, 9-13 May.
Stressing that the World Forum was far beyond being “just another conference”, the ISSC highlighted the reasons why the May 2009 event must be regarded as a priority. Referring to (1) the interdisciplinary and global character of the gathering, and (2) the Forum’s high-relevance focus on Social Science’s engagement with crucial current Public Policy issues, the message conveyed was direct: “It’s important. BE there!” […more]
July 2008

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The World Social Science Report starts to take shape

The newly-appointed Editorial Board for the WSSR convened during May 2008, to advise on the approach, structure and content of the Report. In June, a draft framework for the Report, building on the advice and comments received, was circulated for comment by WSSR Editor-to-be, Francoise Caillods. […more]
July 2008

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Call for nominations for the XIIIth (2008) and XIVth (2009) Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research now open

Nominations for the XIIIth (2008) and XIVth (2009) Stein Rokkan Prize are currently welcomed. The prize is open to all social science disciplines and the deadline for submission of nominations is 1 December 2008. Both prizes will be awarded during the World Social Science Forum to be held in Bergen, Norway from 10-12 May 2009. […more]
June 2008

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Website for the World Social Science Forum in May 2009 is launched: link to the WSSF here

The World Social Science Forum will bring together the world’s leading social scientists to assess the state of the world, the state of social sciences, and anticipate the interaction between them in the coming Century. The event is scheduled to take place from 9 to 12 May 2009, and will be held in Bergen, Norway. The chosen theme for the Forum is “One Planet - Worlds Apart”, highlighting the divisions and challenging common problems that characterize our globalised society. Intensive preparatory work for the WSSF is proceeding, with an on-site organizing committee in Bergen, supported by the ISSC Secretariat in Paris. Further relevant information can be seen on the website now, and the Forum programme and registration details will be posted there shortly.
May 2008

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ISSC sets up Editorial Board for the World Social Science Report (WSSR)

To advise the ISSC as the task of developing the WSSR unfolds, the Council is establishing an editorial board representative of its wide multi-disciplinary and cross-regional membership. The Board will meet for the first time in May 2008
[…more]
April 2008

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ISSC hosts International Experts Meeting to discuss progress on the “Social Sciences & Humanities Futures” Project

On April 22, ISSC hosted a gathering of international social science experts to consider and discuss initial research findings from the EU-supported “Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) Futures” Project. This project focuses on the development of SSH in Europe and their interaction with social demands [...more]
April 2008

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ISSC assembles Presidents and General Secretaries of ISSC Member Associations for a special consultation

On April 21, ISSC held a first-ever special meeting of its Member Associations, at UNESCO in Paris. The gathering assembled Presidents and General Secretaries of ISSC’s member associations, the main purpose being to update and consult around key new activities of the Council [...more]
April 2008

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