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World Social Science Report
The production of a World Social Science Report (WSSR) is a major remit, which has been given to the ISSC by UNESCO. The first and only such report so far produced was published – by UNESCO – in 1999.
The ISSC will produce a new WSSR in 2009, and will renew this report every two to three years.
The WSSR will call attention to social scientific expertise on big questions of the day. It will monitor trends in the development of social scientific knowledge systems and anticipate future developments and opportunities. It will reflect on major policy and funding issues – scientific, institutional, infrastructural and ethical – facing the social sciences across the world. The report will seek to impact on policy as well as research practice, and will include recommendations for action. These will be debated with scientists, policy makers and funders at meetings of the World Social Science Forum. The forum will also serve to determine the themes of future reports in the WSSR series.
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The 2009 WSSR
The ISSC Executive Committee has agreed that the WSSR should comprise both a broad section ‘State of the Art’ presentation of the situation for and the challenges to the social sciences, and a ‘State of the World’, presenting regional variations and perspectives on topics covered. The Committee has also agreed that, like the Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Reports, each WSSR would have a main theme.
2009 WSSR Managing Editor
Françoise Caillods has agreed to join the ISSC in September 2008 as Managing Editor of the 2009 WSSR. Françoise holds a MA in Economics from the Faculté de Droit et Sciences Economiques, Paris (France) and an MA in Economics, Columbia University, New York (USA). She is currently Deputy Director of the International Institute for Education Planning (IIEP) in Paris, heading a research project on Quality Education for All. Her areas of specialization include economics of education, macro and micro planning of education, education and poverty alleviation, alternative strategies for disadvantaged groups and strategies for expanding secondary education. She is the author of a number of publications on planning science education provision, financing secondary education expansion, strategic planning, school mapping and micro planning. She is the general editor of a well known series of booklets on the Fundamentals for Educational planning. She is also the secretary of the International Working Group on Education (informal working group of aid agencies and foundations in education) and member of the editorial board of the International Review of Education.
The WSSR Editorial Board
The WSSR Editorial Board will comprise up to 12 members, including the ISSC Secretariat representatives, the Managing Editor, and nominees approved by the ISSC Executive Committee. UNESCO will nominate a participant observer to attend Board meetings, the first of which will take place during May, 2008.
Nominees who have accepted their nominations to date are (in alphabetical order)
For further information, please contact the ISSC Programme Consultant, Mike Murphy.
1. First Editorial Board Meetings
The Board met during May 2008 to discuss the focus, content and structure of the Report.
Because of crowded agendas, and the difficulty of assembling all members on a single early date, the Board convened in 2 separate sessions. An ideas document was tabled, and much valuable comment and advice was offered by Board members, and noted by the ISSC’s WSSR team.
In June, in response to the Editorial Board inputs, WSSR Editor-to-be Francoise Caillods circulated in draft format a proposed framework for the Report’s structure and content, inviting further comment.
2. Confirmation of the new UNESCO Partnership
In the meantime, discussions with UNESCO have continued to clarify and confirm the commission from UNESCO to produce the WSSR. The outcome is that ISSC will enjoy full editorial freedom to produce, print and disseminate the Report, while UNESCO will maintain ownership and copyright over the publication. UNESCO will contribute some 30% to the anticipated production costs, and ISSC has already started fundraising initiatives in respect of the other 70%, to ensure a budget sufficient to deliver a high-quality Report.
3. Research proceeding currently
Seeking maximum involvement of its own membership base in the production of the Report, the ISSC circulated an early questionnaire (April, May) to members, seeking to identify regional trends in knowledge production, as experienced by member bodies.
This has been followed (June, July) by commencing a study of the issues which ISSC member bodies have prioritized at their congresses over the last 10 years, since the previous WSSR was written. An encouraging response is being received from membership.
4. Next steps
Currently (July-August), the ISSC is consulting widely on appropriate potential authors for the authored chapters of the Report. The Managing Editor, Francoise Caillods will formally start on her job on September 1st, and top priority will be given to the selection of authors, so that commissioning can begin in the last quarter of 2008.
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UNESCO's 1999 World Social Science Report
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updated on July 11, 2008 | print version | give us your feedback
