International Sociological Association

International Sociological Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to scientific purposes in the field of sociology and social sciences. The ISA was founded in 1949 under UNESCO and currently its members come from 167 countries.

Its mission is to "represent sociologists everywhere, regardless of their school of thought, scientific approaches or ideological opinion, and to advance sociological knowledge throughout the world."

The ISA is a member of the International Social Science Council with the status of the Non-Governmental Organization in formal associate relations with UNESCO and special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

The ISA congress is held every four years, the last of which, the 17th congress, was held in Gothenburg, Sweden. The new President (2010-2014) is Michael Burawoy, USA.

List of ISA Congresses

The most visible activity of the ISA is the World Congress which takes place every four years. Its programme and the number of participants have grown rapidly since the first Congress met in Zurich, Switzerland (1950) with just over 100 participants.

The subsequent world congresses were held in

• Liège, Belgium (1953)
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands (1956)
• Stresa, Italy (1959)
• Washington D.C., USA (1962)
• Evian, France (1966)
• Varna, Bulgaria (1970)
• Toronto, Canada (1974)
• Uppsala, Sweden (1978)
• Mexico City, Mexico (1982)
• New Delhi, India (1986)
• Madrid, Spain (1990)
• Bielefeld, Germany (1994)
• Montreal, Canada (1998)
• Brisbane, Australia (2002)
• Durban, South Africa (2006)
• Gothenburg, Sweden (2010)

The forthcoming XVIII World Congress of Sociology is scheduled for July 2014 in Yokohama, Japan.

External links

• ISA Homepage