Origins
The history of ISA can be traced to the 1948 initiative of UNESCO's Social Science Department. The initiative was part of a larger plan aiming together to reform the social sciences worldwide, by improving the ties between scholars worldwide "to promote research in fields crucial to establishments of a peaceful world order". As of 1949, sociological associations existed only in Belgium, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and the USA, with about twenty four more countries having sociologist represented in a different type of an institution. The Institut International de Sociologie (IIS), founded in 1893, was deemed too limited, and it was decided that a new organization needs to be created. In the end, representatives from 21 countries were invited for a Constituent Congress, held in Oslo on 5th-11th September 1949. The original stated purpose of the organization was "to advance sociological knowledge throughout the world" through measures including developing "personal contacts between sociologists" in different regions and encouraging "international dissemination and exchange of information". A provisional Council was appointed, as were an Executive Secretary, Treasurer, and the Secretariat personnel; statutes were adopted. The first ISA conference was planned for 1950.
Read more about this topic: International Sociological Association
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