Present
Alessandro Bonanno, President
Koichi Ikegami, ARSA
Lynda Cheshire, AON
Oakla Cho, ARSA
Hans Bakker, RSS
Ray Jussaume, RSS
Henrique de Barros, ALASRU
Surichai Wun’Gaeo, ARSA
David Hansen, Secretary-Treasurer
Yoshio Kawamura (ARSA), Program Chair
Ki-Whan Chung (ARSA), Local Arrangements Chair

Absent
Bettina Bock, ESRS
Paul Milbourne, ESRS
Heather Aslin, AON
Hugh Campbell, AON
Phil McMichael, RSS
Gabriela Martinez Dougnac, ALASRU
Luciano Martinez Valle, ALASRU
Hilary Tovey, ESRS

Invited
Roger Wilkinson, AON In-Coming Council Representative
Manuel Moreira (ESRS), Proposed Local Arrangements Chair
Mark Shucksmith (ESRS), IRSA Executive Committee

Alessandro Bonanno called the Council meeting to order at 15:45 and welcomed those in attendance. He expressed regrets on the part of those who were unable to attend the meeting. Those in attendance were then requested to introduce themselves and identify their membership affiliations and reasons for attendance.

Alessandro Bonanno then indicated that he wished to alter the agenda slightly by having Prof. Manuel Moreira, Technical University of Lisbon, present the proposal submitted by his institution to host the next World Congress. The presentation was made in power point and was followed by a lively discussion by those in attendance.

Hans Bakker raised questions about the timing of the meeting – late July/early August – given timing of member regional association meetings. Alessandro Bonanno mentioned a concern about availability of space on the university campus given its academic schedule. Mark Shucksmith mentioned that there was no conflict with ESRS meetings which are held biannually and would not be held in 2012. Ray Jussaume asked about hotels and other housing for the conference in proximity to the proposed venue. Manuel Moreira responded that there would be new hotels available proximate to the University as well as student dorms for the proposed times. Lynda Cheshire mentioned that timing would conflict with academic calendar of universities in AON region. Henrique de Barros indicated the great support of ALASRU for this proposal. Roger Wilkinson asked if the venues for the plenary sessions and the working group sessions are close together. Mark Shucksmith asked how the plenary sessions would work for the Congress – if they would be separate or used to keep participants at the Conference. Lynda Cheshire indicated that there would be a need to get the balance right – between time dedicated to plenary sessions and time dedicated to working groups. Dave Hansen commented that it would be important for the organizers to consult with previous Congress organizers in order to make the best informed decisions. Surichai Wun’Gaeo asked about participation from the African continent and the need to engage individuals from around the globe in the conference; this idea was supported by Henrique de Barros. Oakla Cho and Alessandro Bonanno commented on the Program Chairs for the proposed Congress, indicating that they have been identified in the proposal consistent with the Procedural Manual that accompanies IRSA’s By-laws. David Hansen mentioned that an inquiry about hosting the next World Congress had been received from the University of Madras in Chennai, India and would be followed up on in regard to the 2016 World Congress.

At this point, Alessandro Bonanno recognized the arrival of Prof. Ikegami Koichi, ARSA representative from Japan. He then discussed the difficulty of selecting venues for the World Congress, indicating that geographic position of venues was not sufficient. Rather, he argued that there is a need to consider population, income, education, etc. He further indicated that it is important to consider generation of funds to support travel scholarships to the meeting and that it would be important to attract more individuals from high income regions because their registration fees would permit more travel scholarships for individuals from low income nations. Mark Shucksmith indicated that congresses need to make money some of the time and that this needs to be considered when selecting venues for them.

Ray Jussaume then proposed that Council decide on Lisbon as a venue for the 2012 World Congress. He moved that Lisbon, Portugal be recognized as the location for the 2012 World Congress and that the Executive Committee finalize a Memorandum of Agreement for hosting the Congress with the proposed organizers. The motion was seconded by Mark Shucksmith. (passed unanimously)

Ki-Whan Chung then reported on the current Congress. He indicated that he expected 400 individuals, but that that only around 350 would actually be in attendance. He indicated that the expectations were for a high quality Congress. Yoshio Kawamura then reported on the program for the Congress. He mentioned that the Congress expects to have 320 paper presenters in attendance, based on current information. Ray Jussaume then reported on three sources of scholarship funds, as well as the expected number of working groups. He indicated that sessions can be reorganized, depending on who actually attends the Congress. Yoshio Kawamura then commented on the need to increase scholarships to more than $1,000 in order to induce participants to attend from lower income nations. He also mentioned that visa and exit permit problems were very real for those coming from lower income nations and suggested that this fact be considered by the next World Congress.

Alessandro Bonanno then moved that the reports from the Program Chairs and the Local Arrangements Chair be accepted and that they be congratulated for their efforts. (unanimously approved with no comment)

Dave Hansen then presented the Quadrennial report as Secretary-Treasurer. Alessandro Bonanno motioned that it be approved and this was seconded by Lynch Cheshire. (unanimously approved with no comment)

Dave Hansen then presented the Financial Report as Secretary-Treasurer. He indicated that IRSA currently has a positive balance of approximately $30,000, much of which is deposited in income generating CD’s. Alessandro Bonanno motioned that it be approved and this was seconded by Mark Shucksmith. (unanimously approved)

Dave Hansen then opened discussion of dues payments, proposing to modify By-law 3 to allow regional association members the flexibility to pay dues on an annual basis if so desired. He mentioned that some members felt that their own cash flow situation does not allow them to pay four years in advance. He also noted that current practice has been to invoice them on an annual basis. After a brief discussion of this topic Alessandro Bonanno moved and Henrique de Barros seconded that this revision to By-law 3 be discussed at the General Assembly. (unanimously passed)

Dave Hansen then opened discussion of IRSA policy regarding forgiveness of dues for regional association members. Mention was made that it would be important to receive requests from regional associations on an annual basis rather than on a multi-year basis. Ray Jussaume seconded this notion, citing the specific need for ALASRU to do so. Henrique de Barros indicated his support for this notion, but mentioned that ALASRU was in debt after the last regional meeting in 2006, which precipitated its request for the exemption. Mark Shucksmith indicated that is important that regional associations understand that exemptions be temporary rather than an expectation, since we need to consider the financial viability of IRSA as well. Lynda Cheshire proposed modifying the wording for the change in By-law 12 to include “exceptional basis” and moved that it be presented to the General Assembly for discussion in this form. The motion was seconded by Henrique de Barros (unanimously passed)

Alessandro Bonanno then brought up the topic of publication of papers presented at the current World Congress. He indicated that the Executive Committee had approved their posting on the IRSA Website in order to allow those who are unable to attend to have access to them. He then initiated a discussion of the possibility of preparing an edited volume of paper form the conference with financial support from IRSA. He discussed the possibility of creating an editorial committee to oversee this publication, using a theme of the Congress as the title for the publication, and $5,000 support from IRSA for it. This was followed by a lively discussion by Council members. Henrique de Barros suggested that it might be better to support a series of publications focused on sub themes of the conference. Ray Jussaume indicated that we have our own series and that only one slot is available in that series. Lynda Cheshire asked if it might be appropriate for working group chairs to screen the papers based on quality and invite authors to submit for this publication. Ray Jussaume indicated that only papers that were actually presented at the conference and forwarded by working group chairs would be posted on the website. Ray Jussaume indicated that it would be necessary to have a proposal approved by an editor to move this forward. Alessandro Bonanno indicted that IRSA has the moral obligation to share output from Congresses. Mark Shucksmith indicated that the idea of publishing a book is a good one since the book will promote the conference. He indicated that the editors would need to be more proactive to ensure that a precise theme be identified and that the papers published coalesce around the theme. Ray Jussaume then moved and Henrique de Barros seconded that an Ad Hoc Committee be formed to further discuss this option, chaired by Alessandro Bonanno, with participation by himself and Yoshio Kawamura as well as Mark Shucksmith, and that the committee bring a formal recommendation to the In-Coming Council meeting. (passed unanimously)

Lynda Cheshire raised the issue of how Local Arrangement Chairs and Program Committee Chairs should be selected. After discussion it was the sense of the Council that procedures outlined in Procedural Manual which specify that these individual be identified in the proposal be maintained.

Alessandro Bonanno brought up the topic of how to engage past presidents in IRSA activities. It was the sense of the Council that the in-coming president of IRSA should seek the advice of past presidents as appropriate.

Members of regional associations were then requested to report out on their activities. Mark Shucksmith reported for ESRS, indicating that the most recent European Congress was held one year ago in Wageningen. He indicated that the ESRS sponsored journal, Sociologia Ruralis, has been doing quite well and is currently the third journal in ranking in sociology based on citations. He further indicated that the next ESRS Congress would be held in Finland in 2009.

Lynda Cheshire reported on AON activities. She mentioned that AON is an interest group, but that members from Australia and New Zealand regularly attend IRSA Congresses which suggests a very active group. She mentioned that it has an electronic listserv with a large number of subscribers and that they are exploring the possibility of developing a formal association. She also expressed her recognition of the excellent service provided to IRSA and the AON by its out going Council members – Heather Aslin and Hugh Campbell.

Hans Bakker then reported for RSS indicating that the cooperation between Canada and the U.S. was good. Ray Jussaume added that the RSS is a strong group, but undergoing a lot of change, and that the Rural Sociology journal is doing quite well. He indicated that important changes were occurring on the land grant university campuses which suggest that the relationship of rural sociology to related disciplines is changing. He also indicated that multiple factors explain the lack of representation of RSS members at the World Congress, including these changes on university campuses.

Henrique de Barros discussed recent ALASRU activities. He indicated that its most recent Congress was held in 2006 in Quito. It was attended by 1000 participants. There were 200 completed papers that are being published on the ALASRU website which is frequently visited. He indicated that ALASRU currently has a discussion list with over 700 members. He pointed out that many participants at the recent ALASRU Congress are not sociologists, but rather are from related areas such as geography and tourism. He indicated that the next Congress will be held in Recife in 2010 and that ALASRU plans to reinvigorate its journal.

Surichai Wun’Gaeo reported on ARSA activities. He mentioned that its third Congress was held in Beijing in 2007. He indicated that ARSA may give more attention to regional focus in the future, such as the Mekong delta and India. He mentioned that the next Congress will be held in the Philippines. He also mentioned the presence of new actors at their Congress, especially NGO representatives.

Alessandro Bonanno then tabled other agenda items due to the start of the opening reception. The meeting terminated at 18:30.

Present
Alessandro Bonanno (President)
David Hansen (Secretary-Treasurer)
Hilary Tovey, ESRS
Bettina Bock, ESRS
Lynda Cheshire, AON
Hugh Campbell, AON
Raymond Jussaume, RSS
Phil McMichael, RSS
Ki-Whan Chung (Local Arrange Chair)
Yoshio Kawamura (Program Chair)

Apologies
Gabriela Martinez Dougnac, ALASRU
Luciano Martinez Valle, ALASRU
Henrique de Barros, ALASRU
Heather Aslin, AON
Hans Bakker, RSS
Paul Milbourne, ESRS
Haruo Kuroyanagi, ARSA
Surichai Wun’Gao, ARSA
Oakla Cho, ARSA
Mark Shucksmith, ESRS
Regina Karega, OSSREA

Alessandro Bonanno opened the session by welcoming the Council members and thanking them for being present at the meeting. He indicated that we would begin by taking dinner after which we would get to the substance of the meeting.

Subsequently, he then turned the attention of the Council to pending items that were discussed at the last meeting of the Council in Trondheim in 2004. He indicated that the Council had recommended that it consider several outstanding issues during the interim between World Congresses.

The first item brought up by him was the site for the 2012 World Congress Meeting. He indicated that preliminary discussions had continued with OSSREA as a possible host for the meetings in Africa. He reported that Regina Karega, Council representative from Africa, had reported that OSSREA had met and decided that it was not in a position to host the Congress at this time. Ray Jussaume suggested that we should give priority to identifying other ways to maintain contact with African rural sociologists and their representative organizations over the coming two years. Bettina Bock indicated that it would be difficult to find sponsors to support a World Congress in Africa given the other development-related priorities of that continent. Others commented that CODESRIA might be an alternative African organization for this interaction. David Hansen mentioned that IRSA had open dialogue with CODESRIA at the time of the World Congress in Rio de Janeiro in 2000.

MOTION: Based on the feedback received by Alessandro Bonanno from OSSREA, Dave Hansen moved and Ray Jussaume seconded that Council lift the priority for the 2012 World Congress from Africa, and expand the call for expressions of interest from other regions of the world (Unanimously passed).

Alessandro Bonanno then discussed the issue of identifying and contacting entities to request financial support for fellowships for representatives from financially disadvantaged regions to attend the 2008 World Conference. He indicated that Council had proposed forming a Task Force to explore this support and to solicit it from identified sources. Hilary Tovey mentioned several European based potential organizations, including the Atlantic Foundation. Other options include entities that are global food organizations, chemical input companies such as Monsanto and other development oriented foundations. Yoshio Kawamura indicated that there are two Japan Foundations that would be good candidates for provision of this type of support – one a government foundation and one a private foundation. He agreed to help contact them.

MOTION: Ray Jussaume moved and Phil McMichael seconded that the Executive Committee leadership ask regional member associations to each identify a representative for a Task Force to solicit financial support for scholarships to attend the 2008 World Congress (Unanimously passed).

Ki-Whan Chung, Local Arrangements Chair for the 2008 World Congress, agreed to chair this Task Force. Alessandro Bonanno agreed to contact leadership of each of the regional member associations to identify representatives for the Task Force.

Alessandro Bonanno then brought up the topic of posting papers given at the World Congress on the IRSA website. Some argued that the papers would best be posted prior to the World Congress. Others mentioned that they might be submitted as PDF files to facilitate their posting. Some felt that it was not practically feasible to request that papers be submitted in time for posting prior to the World Congress simply because many authors do not complete their papers in time have them posted.

MOTION: Ray Jussaume moved and Alessandro Bonanno seconded that the 2008 World Congress Program Committee formally announce that paper presenters will have the option of posting their papers to the IRSA website (Unanimously passed).

It was agreed that authors of papers would submit their papers to working session chairs, who would in turn send them to the Program Committee. The Program Committee would in turn submit them to the webmaster for posting. The assumption is that this would occur after the World Congress takes place as occurred with the 2004 World Congress. Lynda Cheshire mentioned that it would be important to instruct working group session organizers to collect the papers and submit electronic copies to the Program Committee. She mentioned that the failure to do so in reference to the previous World Congress delayed the process of posting papers from this meeting.

Ray Jussaume proposed that abstracts be posted on the website prior to the meeting. It was agreed that this should be formally stipulated by the Program Committee when soliciting abstracts for the World Congress. Some asked if it would be necessary to have a publication of abstracts for the meeting if the abstracts were to be posted on the website. Ki-Whan Chung argued that we will still need a printed copy of abstracts in order to facilitate participation of those attending in the meetings. Ray Jussaume indicated that a printed book of abstracts could be used by program participants to certify that they attended the World Congress with their sponsoring organizations. Phil McMichael suggested that participants in the World Congress would lack sufficient time to consult the posting of abstracts on the website while at the Congress. Ray Jussaume requested that the Local Arrangements Committee verify the cost of preparing a CD Rom with the abstracts as opposed to preparing a written publication of them for the meeting.

No formal motion was made with regard to publication of abstracts although it was agreed that the Program Committee should formally request them and subsequently send them to the Mark Jarvis for posting on the website prior to the World Congress.

David Hansen then presented an updated financial report for the Association. He indicated that $10,000 from the checking account had been deposited to a six month CD taking advantage of higher interest rate levels in the U.S. He reported that $16,959 of surplus funding had been received from the Local Arrangements Committee for the 2004 World Congress and deposited to the IRSA account.

MOTION: Alessandro Bonanno moved and Hugh Campbell seconded that the financial report be accepted by the Council as presented. (Unanimously passed).

David Hansen then consulted with the Council about the process of soliciting annual dues from regional association members. He mentioned that the new dues structure, as found in the by-law changes passed by the General Assembly in 2004, requires limited dues from ALASRU and ARSA. Alessandro Bonanno emphasized that surplus funds from the World Congresses have become the primary source of funding for IRSA. Unlike in the past, IRSA does not depend primarily on membership dues to finance its activities.

MOTION: Hugh Campbell moved and Lynch Cheshire seconded that the Executive Committee have the option of waiving dues for a regional association for any given period (Unanimously passed.) Hilary Tovey moved and Ray Jussaume seconded that this motion be amended to specify that this occur only upon receipt of a written request from the leadership of a member association as stipulated in the By-laws (Unanimously Passed).

Alessandro Bonanno asked that representatives from regional member associations provide updates on their activities. Yoshio Kawamura reported for ARSA. He indicated that the next ARSA conference would be held in China and that it would be sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He indicated that the meeting would be used as a venue to promote the 2008 World Congress. He further indicated that ARSA leadership would be meeting in Shanghai next week which explained the absence of ARSA Council Members at this meeting. Bettina Bock reported for the ESRS. She indicated that the next ESRS Congress would be held in Wageningen in 2007. She indicated that information about the meeting can be accessed at the following website: www.ESRS2007.nl. Hugh Campbell reported for the AON. He indicated that an agri-food network conference would be held in the near future. Lynda Cheshire also reported for the AON that the Australian Sociology Association is in the process of forming topical networks and that Stewart Lockie is taking responsibility for the Environmental network. Alessandro Bonanno reported for ALASRU. He indicated that the next ALASRU Congress would be held in Quito, Ecuador in November.

Alessandro Bonanno requested that Ki-Whan Chung discuss the status of Local Arrangements for the 2008 World Congress in Seoul. Chung shared a written report of his committee. He indicated that the Conference Center had been changed from one in downtown Seoul to the KINTEX Center in Goyan City, a suburb of Seoul near the Incheon airport and approximately 70 minutes from center of Seoul. He indicated that there would be a variety of options for rooming available to participants, both in terms of type and price, ranging from hotels to dormitories to home stays. He indicated that expectations were for about 1000 participants to attend the Congress. He said that it would be important to advertise the Congress through member associations and national societies and that his Committee would prepare several brochures to facilitate this process. He also noted that the registration fee had been initially set at a meeting in March at $350, but indicated that his Committee might recommend a sliding fee structure taking into account ability to pay for high income vs. low income regions. He indicated that his Committee would solicit funding for scholarships. He also mentioned that his Committee intended to organize 10-20 excursion options, including pre- and post-Congress tours. He also mentioned that they were considering inviting several representatives from North Korea.

Yoshio Kawamura then distributed a report from the Program Committee. He indicated that the Committee intend to integrate local community issues/problems into the Congress program and that this might occur through the Congress excursions. He indicated that the Program Committee proposes to hold one poster session as well as 11 working sessions. He mentioned that there would be a special session for the Presidential address, which would be associated with the theme of the Congress, namely, “Envisioning a Prosperous Rural Future in a Globalizing World: Community Initiatives and Empowerment.” Keynote speakers would also be invited, such as Amartya Sen. He also noted that a timeline had been identified to assure that program preparations be systematically carried out in order to assure a successful Congress. Some Council members suggested that the time lines for activities in preparation for the Congress be moved up from the dates proposed.

MOTION: Hugh Campbell moved and Phil McMichael seconded that Council accept the LAC and PC reports with acclamation (Unanimously passed).

Alessandro Bonanno reported that three alternative options for the 2012 World Congress were being explored by the Executive Committee, namely:

• Lisbon, Portugal which has the advantages of accessibility, low cost, active rural social science programs, and existing interaction with the Executive Committee;
• Guadalajara, Mexico which has the advantages of good contacts between the Executive Committee and potential hosts and prevalence of rural research activity; and
• Recife, Brazil which has an active rural social science research agenda and good interaction with the IRSA Executive Committee. Potential disadvantages are that the 2000 World Congress was held in Rio de Janeiro and that the RC40 is considering a mini-conference in Recife in 2009)

MOTION: Ray Jussaume moved and David Hansen seconded that that the President of IRSA solicit Expressions of Interest for hosting 2012 World Congress by January 2007; that he subsequently share the information received and recommend to Council which Expression of Interest should be invited to develop a full pre-proposal to be vetted at the 2008 World Congress (Unanimously passed).

Alessandro Bonanno mentioned that he had received a request from ALASRU for financial assistance for support for its upcoming conference in Quito. He indicated that he had discussed this request with the Council through e-mail. This assistance would help to improve relations with ALASRU.

MOTION: Alessandro Bonanno moved and Bettina Bock seconded that IRSA provide ALASRU with $3,000 in support of ALASRU 2006 Quito Congress (Unanimously passed).

Alessandro Bonanno indicated that a need for transparency exists for this type of distribution of IRSA funding. It will require a policy decision regarding how IRSA will provide support from member associations. Ray Jussaume indicated that we are indeed setting a precedent and therefore need to formulate a policy in this regard.

MOTION: David Hansen moved and Hilary Tovey seconded that the Council draft a new by-law indicating that member associations can request financial support for their regional meetings based on a written request and justified need; the by-law should specify that all requests would need to be formally voted on by Council (Unanimously passed).

Alessandro Bonanno then indicated that several other items raised at the previous Council meeting needed to be addressed. He noted that Council had recommended that an IRSA Historian be identified to record historical events for IRSA. He indicated that he had not had any luck in convincing proposed candidates to assume this position. Discussion by Council led to the identification of a suitable candidate for this position. Alessandro Bonanno agreed to ask that person to accept this assignment. Others suggested that the person taking on this role could rely on information from Gene Erickson and other rural sociologists to compile an accurate history of IRSA. It was agreed that the IRSA website would be a principal mechanism for assuring that it fulfill its role as a disseminator of information about current international issues related to rural sociology. Given the late hour, a discussion of a twelve year planning horizon for IRSA World Congress was tabled for discussion at the next Council Meeting.

MOTION: Ray Jussaume moved and Hilary Tovey seconded that the meeting end at 23:00 (Unanimously approved).

Minutes/In-Coming Council Meeting
Trondheim, Norway
July 29-30, 2004

Present
Alessandro Bonanno (President)
David Hansen (Secretary-Treasurer)
Heather Aslin, AON
Hilary Tovey, ESRS
Hans Bakker, RSS
Bettina Bock, ESRS
Paul Milbourne, ESRS
Hugh Campbell, AON
Philip McMichael, RSS
Raymond Jussaume, RSS
Haruo Kuroyanagi, ARSA
Surichai Wun’Gaeo, ARSA
Lynda Cheshire, AON
Oakla CHO, ARSA
Ki-Whan Chung, (Local Arrangements Chair)
Mark Shucksmith, (Past Program Chair)

Apologies
Gabriela Martinez Dougnac, ALASRU
Luciano Martinez Valle, ALASRU
Henrique de Barros, ALASRU
Yoshio Kawamura, (Programme Chair)

Others present
Aurora Cristina Martinez, ALASRU
Regina Karega, OSSREA
Blanca Rubio, ALASRU
Frank Vanclay, AON (Past President)
Ana Maria Aragones , ALASRU

First Meeting, July 29, 2004 (18:15 ­ 19:30)

Alessandro Bonanno called the meeting to order. He welcomed all those in attendance and mentioned that it was his hope to accomplish important activities during his administration. He noted that we need to strive to work in harmony with one another.

He indicated that the In-Coming Council would actually have two meetings. The second meeting is scheduled for Friday, July 30 after the General Assembly. He urged all members to attend this meeting as well.

He then asked members of the new Council to introduce themselves and to briefly discuss any major issues they may have. Oakla Cho, following up on comments made in the General Assembly, raised a concern about the language factor for the next World Congress, suggesting that if translation is to be provided, it would need to be into the Asian languages rather than into French or Spanish. Blanca Rubio raised the cost of attending the World Congresses, noting that most Latin Americans are unable to cover these costs.

Alessandro Bonanno moved and Heather Aslin seconded that Regina Karega be admitted to Council as the area representative for Africa (to replace Adboulaye Sene) until such time as the Organisation for Social Science Research for Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) formally joins IRSA. (Passed Unanimously)

Regina Karega indicated that it was OSSREA’s intent to pay the dues for the coming four year period and that OSSREA will nominate its three representatives shortly.

Alessandro Bonanno then moved to a discussion of priority activities for the coming four year period. He indicated that he will attempt to hold more dialogue (perhaps actual meetings and meetings by teleconference and web conferencing) to ensure that this occur.

Alessandro indicated that he intended to alter the procedure for election of the two Vice Presidents. He proposed that the Secretary send an e-mail to all Council members asking them to indicate within a specified period of time if they are interested in standing for a Vice President position. Council members from all regions other than the RSS will then be requested to vote on those standing for the position of First Vice President. Once the First Vice President is elected, the remaining names for regions other than RSS and the region of the elected First Vice President will be sent to Council members for election of the Second Vice President.

Phil McMichael raised a question of procedure, asking if Council member not present could be elected following the standard procedure. Considerable discussion took place regarding the election process. Frank Vanclay recommended that the procedure in By-law 6 which covers the election of the Vice Presidents be followed.

Alessandro Bonnano then moved and Hugh Campbell seconded that the IRSA Council recommend the election of Vice Presidents be conducted via e-mail following the preferential voting system in a manner that is consistent with the limitations governing the election of the two Vice Presidents at this Council meeting. (Passed)

Attention was then turned to amending By-law 8 to add an additional duty for the Secretary-Treasurer. It was proposed that prior to each In-Coming Council meeting, the Secretary-Treasurer should e-mail all eligible Council members asking them if they were interested in standing for the Vice President positions.

Alessandro Bonanno then asked for inputs on how to improve World Congresses, focusing on experiences of this Congress and perceived obstacles that will be faced by the 2008 World Congress in Korea. He mentioned that the language problem will persist and will need to be addressed. Blanca Rubio indicated that for non-native English language speakers, presentations are much easier to understand if they use power point or overhead presentations. Comprehension of spoken English is less imperative if these visual aids are used. Ray Jussaume mentioned that the current World Congress produced abstracts for all of the papers. Perhaps they should be translated into major languages to facilitate access to their content by non-native English language speakers. Oakla Cho also indicated that she found the distribution of handouts to be extremely useful. Mention was made of the need to enlarge media coverage of the World Congresses. Others indicated that this World Congress was receiving substantial coverage and that it should be continued at all Congresses.

The meeting was adjourned at 19:30.

In-Coming Council Meeting, July 30, 2004, 16:15 ­ 19:00

Alessandro Bonanno opened the meeting requesting Dave Hansen to review important matters arising from the Out-Going Council Meeting (an item that had been deferred from the previous day). Hansen reported that Ki-Whan Chung had made an excellent presentation to the Council in relation to the Korean proposal to host the XII World Congress in 2008. Council formally endorsed Korea as the site for the 2008 World Congress and thanked the Korean delegation for its excellent proposal by giving them an enthusiastic round of applause. Changes to the Constitution, By-laws, and Procedural Manual were approved by Council. Frank Vanclay, as IRSA’s nominee to the Editorial Board of the book series, Research in Rural Soicology and Development, published by Elsevier Press, needs nominations for the position of Editor to replace Fred Buttel. OSSREA was discussed as a potential sponsor for the 2012 World Congress.

Alessandro Bonanno then turned to the 2008 World Congress, indicating that he and Ray Jussaume (Deputy Programme Chair) had met with the Korean delegation the evening before. The format is still tentative. They have agreed to discuss further the specifics of the program for the World Congress. Inputs from Council representatives are needed to achieve this. Evaluations of the current World Congress will also be used in the process. Hilary Tovey argued that we will need to consider greater diversity in the leadership makeup of the next World Congress. She observed that it appears that the higher up one goes in the administrative hierarchy of the Congress, the less present women and minorities are. Phil McMichael asked how one can promote greater diversity in the programme. Ray Jussaume noted that this will be an issue for the coming World Congress because of the diversity of culture and societies in Asia. He noted that scholarship funding could be used to attract minorities. Chung then mentioned that there are at least two ways to attract a diverse audience, namely (1) scholarships targeted at specific regions of Asia; and (2) symposia that highlight certain sensitive topics related to ethnicity. Mark Shucksmith indicated that the Programme Committee might want to consider developing an advisory group composed of individuals from the region that could recommend participation by specific social scientists from the different regions.

Dave Hansen mentioned that a draft MOU between the Koreans and IRSA had been developed during the week. Since the KREI President is not present at these meetings, the signing of the document will be postponed until he has seen it.

It was agreed that IRSA Executive Committee would appoint a Task Force to seek funding in support of the 2008 World Congress. It would solicit funding from various international donors to help support travel and maintenance costs of participants from poorer regions of the world. Alessandro Bonanno agreed to give this some thought and to propose Task Force members to Council. Several Council members tentatively volunteered or were suggested to participate on this committee, including Frank Vanclay, Ki-Whan Chung, and Hans Bakker.

In following up a discussion from the Outgoing Council meeting, Frank Vanclay again raised the issue of the urban nature of Seoul as was depicted in the video presentation in the closing session of the Congress. He wanted to be sure that the Council was completely committed to the hosting of the Congress in Seoul and ensuring that no one would be concerned that holding the next World Congress in Seoul represented a conflict because of IRSA’s values. Hilary Tovey indicated that she does have reservations about Seoul and would much prefer a smaller place with greater informal interaction opportunities. Hans Bakker mentioned that if we opt for Seoul, we should extend our stays to enjoy the exotic environment. Ray Jussaume indicated that possibilities for doing different things in Korea are enormous; Regina Karega noted that in Africa, there would be many logistical problems if a Congress were not to be held in a larger city. Ki-Whan Chung said that Seoul was proposed as the venue for many reasons including ease of accessibility and potential for increased interest by government, NGOs, sponsors, etc. Bettina Bock stated that we should accept the reality of going to Seoul, if this is necessary in order to hold the Congress in Korea.

Frank Vanclay then moved and Hans Bakker seconded that the Council accept that the Congress held in Seoul, but with the proviso that a rural flavor be provided through the Congress field trip and optional extra pre-, and post-Congress tours to rural areas. (Passed with one abstention)

Alessandro Bonanno then presented the suggestion that the preferred site for the 2012 World Congress possibly be in Africa. Regina Karega needs to explore this idea further with OSSREA and other regional associations in Africa. A two year time frame exists for deciding whether or not to encourage a bid from Africa. A final decision whether to continue to pursue this idea or not will be discussed at the Mid Term Council meeting in 2006 in Durban, South Africa.

Phil McMichael then moved and Heather Aslin seconded that the IRSA Council accept Africa as the preferred venue for 2012 (Passed)

Alternative venues for 2012 were then further discussed. The need to avoid being seen to be following in the footsteps of ISA World Congresses was mentioned ­ ISA will hold its next World Congress in Durban, South Africa in 2006. Australia and/or New Zealand were mentioned as possibilities. Phil McMichael indicated that enticing previously non involved regions and their sociology networks to join IRSA should be an important reason for going to different regions. Alessandro Bonanno encouraged us all to continue to think about an alternative place for the 2012 World Congress.

Alessandro raised the issue of OSSREA’s impending membership in IRSA and asked Frank Vanclay to provide some background about IRSA’s relations with African organizations. Vanclay mentioned that IRSA had had several representatives from Africa over the last 10 years or so, including Lawrence Ega (Nigeria) [1996-2000] and Abdoulaye Sene (Senegal) [2000-2004]. Abdoulaye Sene had been present at the 2000 World Congress and had encouraged the development of a relationship with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), a pan-African organisation based in Senegal. Discussions with Regina Karega have clarified relationships between CODESRIA and OSSREA, which is a regional organisation covering eastern and southern Africa only. Similarities between CODESRIA and OSSREA were discussed. Considerable discussion of the organisation of social science and the geographical and culture organisation of Africa ensued. Alessandro Bonanno suggested that IRSA had had overlapping memberships before when RUM (the Mediterranean Rural Sociology Association) was a member of IRSA because it overlapped considerably with ESRS. The general consensus was that there would be no problem in having more than one association represent Africa in IRSA and IRSA was encouraged to accept OSSREA’s application for membership when it would eventuate. Vanclay had had discussions with Regina Karega about this and they had agreed that OSSREA would pay a membership fee of $400 for a four year period when it joined.

Alessandro Bonanno then opened discussion about the IRSA website. It needs to be used more. One idea is to publish papers of the Conference on the website. It can become an archive for all papers of the World Congresses. Issues for and against this option were discussed. Individuals might be prevented from publishing papers in peer reviewed format if they are previously posted to a website. Others indicated that this is not normally the case, noting that conferences normally have Proceedings with the expectation that papers will be posted on websites. Others indicated that authors would have the option of not posting their papers on the website. Phil McMichael argued that this option should be checked further before making a final decision.

Frank Vanclay suggested that the Programme Chair consult with several journals regarding legality issues and report back to the Executive Committee. Council will be consulted by the Executive Committee prior to making final decision. The Secretary- Treasurer will be the point person with Mark Jarvis about use of the website for the 2008 World Congress by the Programme Committee.

Alessandro Bonanno then spoke to the need to identify someone to handle the history of IRSA as well as the posting of materials to the website.

It was moved and seconded that the IRSA President bring a name forward for this position during the following six months for approval by Council (Passed)

The process of appointing future Program Chairs was an agenda item. Alessandro Bonanno indicated that it was really not an issue and that he intended to pass on to the next item. Lynda Cheshire, however, wanted it noted that the role of Deputy Programme Chair should be considered as an opportunity for young members to learn through the process. Frank Vanclay noted that Council needs to consider all risk options for future Congresses, including the possible need to replace a Programme Chair. Mark Shucksmith noted that developmental opportunities are important and that we should cover risk management while still providing opportunities for professional development.

Alessandro Bonanno then opened discussion about the Role of Past Presidents. He indicated his preference that past president should retire once they complete their terms of office, but that they need to have a continuing contributing role in IRSA. Frank Vanclay noted that there also needed to be a transition process. He also noted that there was some ambiguity in the current procedures about whether the Past President should attend the In-Coming Council meeting. In practice over the last three Congresses (1992, 1996, 2000) Past Presidents had attended the In-Coming Council meeting. Considerable discussion followed. Ray Jussaume indicated that there needed to be a clear statement to indicate whether the Past President should attend. Council was of the view that at this meeting, the contributions of the Past President (Vanclay) had been beneficial and important.

Ray Jussaume moved and Lynda Cheshire seconded that By-law 5 should be modified by adding that “The Out-Going President shall invited to attend the meeting of the In-Coming Council in an observer status.” (Passed)

Alessandro Bonanno then turned to other priorities for the IRSA Council.

Hans Bakker moved and David Hansen seconded indicated that the Executive Committee should seriously consider the goals and objectives of the organisation and bring them forward to Council for discussion (Passed)

Alessandro Bonanno then discussed the possibility of the Council meeting for a full day before the next World Congress since the two hour blocks provided at the current Congress are not sufficient for full discussion of the issues confronting us. This option was discussed at length with several Council members arguing that we already meet too long at the World Congresses. In response to questioning from Paul Milbourne, Alessandro Bonanno indicated that it would be a meeting of the Out-Gong Council but with participation by the In-Coming Council as well. Paul Milbourne then asked when the In-Coming Council would meet? Bonanno requested that members consider this further. It was agreed that this idea would be discussed at further length at the Mid-Term Council meeting in 2006.

Under Other Business, Vanclay requested that there be a letter from IRSA to acknowledge Fred Buttel at the upcoming recognition event to be held in conjunction with the RSS Annual Meeting in Sacramento, California. It was agreed that Phil McMichael will attend the RSS Fred Buttel recognition event as an official IRSA representative and that he will convey in an appropriate manner IRSA’s appreciation of Buttel’s contributions to Rural Sociology. It was also agreed that President Alessandro Bonanno would send Fred Buttel a card on behalf of IRSA, thanking him for his contributions, wishing him well and continued success in his current battle with cancer.

Alessandro Bonanno then noted that the next meeting of the IRSA Council will take place in Durban, South Africa in coordination with the next ISA World Congress, July 23-29, 2006.

The meet was adjourned at 17:10.

Minutes from IRSA General Assembly Meeting
XI World Congress of Rural Sociology
July 29, 2004

Attendance:

The General Assembly was attended by 82 delegates. A full listing of names and affiliations is found in the appendix.

Frank Vanclay opened the General Assembly at 16:20 p.m. He asked that we proceed in a timely fashion to ensure that we finish by 18:15.

He then briefly reviewed IRSA’s organizational objectives, which include support of rural sociology in different regions of the world and promotion of dialogues and useful exchanges among rural sociologists around the world.

Vanclay announced his successor, Prof. Alessandro Bonanno, In-Coming President and introduced the Out-Going and In-Coming Executive Committees and Council members, requesting that those members in attendance stand to be acknowledged.

Vanclay asked that the minutes from the 2000 General Assembly held in Rio de Janeiro, be accepted. Moved by Ray Jussaume and seconded by Mark Shucksmith that the minutes from the 2000 General Assembly held in Rio de Janeiro de accepted. (Passed unanimously)

Vanclay reported on matters arising from the minutes of the 2000 General Assembly, indicating actions taken by the IRSA Executive Committee and IRSA Council in response to them.

• IRSA needs to put its history on its website and consider creating the Office of Historian/Archivist. (A brief history of IRSA has been posted to the website that will need to be expanded and continually updated. The Secretary/Treasurer will archive important material on the website. The new Council will consider the position of Historian.)
• IRSA needs to work on rebuilding the links with FAO. (No action has been taken on this recommendation, but the new Council has been requested to pursue this.)
• IRSA needs to consider its potential role as a clearinghouse for international rural sociology information. (This issue was discussed further, but not implemented due to the complexity of doing so; it will be revisited by the new Council.)
• IRSA needs to establish clear procedures for selecting World Congress sites. (This has been done through the By-laws and Procedural Manual.)
• IRSA needs to continue to work with a possible member association in Africa. (IRSA initially attempted to establish contact with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa [CODESRIA], but had a limited response. It also invited the presidents of CODESRIA and the Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa [OSSREA] to attend the current World Congress to continue exploring this linkage). The president of OSSREA, Regina Karega, accepted the invitation and is attending this General Assembly.)
• IRSA needs to formalize its International Sociological Association (ISA) links in order to facilitate its work. (IRSA has become a “Collective Member” of ISA.)

Dave Hansen presented the Quadrennial Report (see appendix for Report).

Motion: Moved by Hans Bakker and seconded by Hugh Campbell that the Report be accepted by the General Assembly. (Passed without comment)

Dave Hansen then presented the Financial Report which shows that IRSA currently has about $35,000 in its checking and savings accounts. Over the past four years, approximately $8750 has been collected in membership dues. Major outlays during this period have been for website development and maintenance and travel by the IRSA Executive Committee. Total expenditures have been approximately $7,750. IRSA regional association members are paid up in dues through 2003. IRSA’s financial books were audited by Prof. Linda Lobao, Past President of the RSS, who certified that the accounts are in order. (see appendix for Report);

Frank Vanclay mentioned that preliminary analyses of income/expenditure streams for the current World Congress indicate that it will yield an additional income of over $10,000 for IRSA. He noted that regional and potential national members associations will pay reduced dues in the future, thus making it easier to be members. IRSA will rely more on revenues generated by World Congresses in the future.

Motion: Moved by Heather Aslin and seconded by Hilary Tovey that the Financial Report be accepted by the General Assembly (Passed without comment)

Frank Vanclay then initiated a discussion of the process of changes made to the IRSA Constitution. Major revisions in the Constitution were approved at the 2000 World Congress. Additional minor revisions have been proposed since then and they were approved by the IRSA Council at its meetings in 2002 and 2004. These changes were posted to the IRSA website for scrutiny by the membership. Copies of the changes were placed at the entry to the General Assembly room for further scrutiny by those present.

Motion: Moved by Mark Shucksmith and seconded by Philip McMichael that proposed changes to the Constitution as amended by the IRSA Council at its July 25, 2004 Meeting be approved. (Unanimously Passed)

Frank Vanclay then introduced the changes to the By-laws that have been approved by the IRSA Council at its recent meetings. He indicated that changes in By-laws are approved by the IRSA Council and ratified by the General Assembly.

Motion: Moved by Larry Busch and seconded by Josefa Cavalcanti that the changes to the By-laws as amended by the IRSA Council at its July25, 2004 meeting be ratified. (Unanimously Passed)

Frank Vanclay then introduced the IRSA Procedural Manual that had been developed over the last four years. He noted that the Procedural Manual is an important operational roadmap for the IRSA Executive Committee and IRSA Council. It further stipulates how the By-laws are to be implemented and provides for greater transparency of operations. Although there is no requirement for the General Assembly to approve the Procedural Manual, the Council wanted the General Assembly to be aware of its content, to know that it was publically accessible on the website, and to provide an opportunity for participants to comment on them. He therefore asked for a motion to note the Procedural Manual.

Motion: Moved by Heather Aslin and seconded by Geoff Lawrence that the General Assembly note the changes that have been made to the Procedural Manual (Unanimously passed)

Frank Vanclay then announced that the 2008 World Congress will be held in Korea. He presented the Programme Chairs and Local Arrangement Chair for this Congress and announced that there would be a presentation of the proposal in the closing session of the current Congress. Vanclay mentioned that he had had the opportunity to visit Seoul, Korea during June, 2004 to observe first hand where the Congress will be held. He expressed enthusiasm for the venue and confidence in the organisational capacity of the Korean Rural Sociological Society and its partner, the Korean Rural Economic Institute.

Heather Aslin raised a concern about the structure of the programme of the actual World Congress, indicating that attention should be given to the appropriate number of working groups for the 2008 World Congress. Alberto Arce also mentioned that attention needs to be given to languages used at World Congresses. More attention should be given to the opportunity to communicate in Spanish and French. Other questions were raised about the proposed venue and organisation of the 2008 World Congress.

Frank Vanclay praised the proposal presented by the Korean delegation, indicating that it set a new standard for IRSA Congresses.

Frank Vanclay then discussed what he saw as key issues that need to be addressed by IRSA in the future

• IRSA needs to continue to develop a relationship with OSSREA and to explore how to use this relationship to further develop linkages with rural sociology in Africa.
• IRSA needs to think strategically using a 12 year planning horizon, particularly in regard to the organisation of World Congresses.
• IRSA needs to liaise with an African organization for the hosting of the 2012 World Congress, with a proposal to be considered in 2008.
• IRSA needs to increase resources and income taking into account principles of equity and partnering with development organisations. The latter should be approached to secure support for those with limited resource capacity to attend IRSA Congresses. The IRSA Executive Committee and IRSA Council need to develop IRSA’s capacity to approach these organisations to solicit this support.
• IRSA needs to use its website more effectively, including the posting of papers of World Congresses on it.
• IRSA needs to consider developing a statement of values, vision and mission.

In-Coming President, Alessandro Bonanno, then thanked Frank Vanclay for his enormous contributions to IRSA and presented him with a plaque of appreciation for them.

Bonanno mentioned that globalisation will remain a key issue and that its impact will continue to define a key role for IRSA. He asked everyone to participate in the deliberation of this trend and its impacts on rural society. He further invited all to contribute ideas to IRSA about how to accomplish this.

A discussion of the current Congress ensued. Mark Shucksmith and Lynda Cheshire reported on the programme, indicating that over 800 abstracts had been received with over 575 registrations and 551 papers accepted. They thanked the symposia and working group chairs for their great efforts and suggested that they may still have work to do. They thanked Marit Haugen and Reidar Almas, Local Arrangements Committee, for their excellent inputs and Frank Vanclay, President, for his guidance. Shucksmith then formally expressed his thanks to Lynda Cheshire for having kept things moving during his period of recovery following surgery.

Reidar Almas then spoke on behalf of the Local Arrangements Committee. He thanked Frank Vanclay and Dave Hansen along with Mark Shucksmith and Lynda Cheshire for their support for and collaboration with the Local Arrangements Committee. He also thanked Marit Haugen for her invaluable contributions to local arrangements. The final number of participants was 600 consisting of 547 Congress participants and 53 accompanying participants. The Local Arrangements Committee had worked to get funding for simultaneous translation, but did not succeed.

A series of recommendations and suggestions about how to improve future World Congresses were then raised by those in attendance, including

• Attention to speaking English to a multi-lingual audience
• Balance between Working Groups and Symposia
• Organisation of conferences within the context of local culture and rural issues
• Use of non theater style rooms
• Styles of presentations in symposia and working groups
• Visits to research sites with mini-presentations at field sites
• Graduate student scholarships for translation inputs
• Opportunities for non-native English participants to speak
• Appropriate venues that allow for people involved in Working Groups to translate for each other

Ki Whan Chung, Local Arrangements Committee Chair for the proposed 2008 World Congress, indicated that translation costs in Korea are very expensive. He indicated that programme chairs may need to decide how to deal with translation needs at the next Congress.

Motion: The General Assembly thank the Local Organising Team and the Programme Chair and Deputy Programme Chair for an excellent Congress. (Passed with Resounding Acclamation)

The General Assembly closed at 5:50 p.m.

General Assembly
Appendix

Attendance List for General Assembly, 2004 Meeting

IRSA
Secretary-Treasurer Quadrennial Report
2000-2004

1. IRSA Journal

President: A formal request was sent to IRSA regional association members through their Council representatives, requesting that they encourage current and past members of the IRSA Council to stand for President. After considerable dialogue, two nominations went forward to the Out-Going Council for vote. Prof. Alessandro Bonanno, Sam Houston State University, USA, was elected to the position.

TREASURER’S REPORT
INTERNATIONAL RURAL SOCIOLOGY ASSOCIATION
June 22, 2004

Checking Account:

Transaction

Savings Account:

DUES PAYMENTS ­ REGIONAL ASSOCIATION MEMBERS
INTERNATIONAL RURAL SOCIOLOGY ASSOCIATION

Minutes/Out-Going Council Meeting
Trondheim, Norway
July 25, 2004

Outgoing Council

Present
Frank Vanclay (President)
David Hansen (Secretary/Treasurer)
Phil McMichael, RSS
Reidar Almas (Local Arrangements Chair)
Marit Haugen (Local Arrangements Co-Chair)
Mark Shucksmith (Program Chair)
Anita Brumer, ALASRU
Heather Aslin, AON
Stewart Lockie, AON
Hilary Tovey, ESRS
Haruo Kuroyanagi,
Hugh Campbell, AON
Imre Kovach, ESRS

Apologies
Bernardino Mata G, ALASRU
Abdoulaye Sene (Africa)
Goran Djurfeldt, ESRS
Atsushi Kitahara, ARSA
Rosiady Sayuti, ARSA
Diego Pineiro, ALASRU

Incoming Council

Present
Oakla Cho, ARSA
Paul Milbourne, ESRS
Bettina Bock, ESRS
Hans Bakker, RSS
Lynda Cheshire, AON

Apologies
Yoshio Kawamura, ARSA
Alessandro Bonanno, RSS
Surichai Wun’Gaeo, ARSA
Ray Jussaume, RSS
Garbriela Martinez D., ALASRU
Luciano Martinez V, ALASRU
Henrique de Barros, ALASRU

Others invited
Guoqing Li, ARSA
Regina Karega, OSSREA
Tai-Hun Kim, KRSS
Joo-sook Kim, KRSS
Ki-Whan Chung

Others present
Bonita Rubio, ALASRU
Ana Maria Aragones, ALASRU
Cesar Ramirez, ALASRU

Frank Vanclay formally opened the meeting at 14:00. He briefly introduced those present and then reviewed an informal meeting that was held during the morning with the Korean delegation that proposes to host the XII World Congress in 2008. He explained the procedure he intended to use for voting on motions and sought approval from everyone to proceed in that manner.

Marit Haugen and Reidar Almas reported on preparations for the current World Congress. Marit Haugen indicated that the Local Arrangement Committee had established a division of labor which included four different groups, each tasked with specific duties: (1) Finances; (2) Excursions; (3) Logistics and Publicity; and (4) Social Arrangements. She indicated that this organizational structure had worked well. Reidar Almas reported that the Congress was likely to generate a surplus. Coordination of local arrangements activities with those of the Programme Committee had gone very well. The same had been the case for coordination between this Committee and the IRSA Executive Committee.

Mark Shucksmith and Lynda Cheshire reported on the programme. They noted that over 800 abstracts were submitted and over 550 participants had registered. Mark Shucksmith indicated that the programme has been structured to maximise participation by attendees. He then recognised the essential contributions made by Lynda Cheshire to program organisation while he underwent surgery and recovered from it. She picked up where he left off and kept the process moving forward. Some problems were experienced with participant withdrawals, but they have been resolved. The programme may reflect some problems with regional balance and gender balance due to withdrawals, but they were unavoidable and have been addressed to the extent possible.

Motion: Mark Shucksmith, Lynda Cheshire, Reidar Almas and Marit Haugen be congratulated for their efforts. (Passed with acclamation)

Frank Vanclay then turned to the minutes of the last Council Meetings held in Rio de Janeiro in August, 2000 and in Brisbane in August, 2002, both of which had already been approved by Council via e-mail. There were no additional comments on the minutes.

Dave Hansen presented the IRSA Quadrennial Report which describes major activities of IRSA since the last World Congress. (See appendix).

Motion: The IRSA Council accepts the Quadrennial Report. (Passed)

Dave Hansen was then requested to present the Treasurer’s Report. This Report shows that IRSA currently has a balance of over $35,000 in its checking and savings accounts. He presented a letter from Linda Lobao, Past RSS President, certifying that she had reviewed the IRSA accounts and that they are in order.

Motion: The IRSA Council accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented. (Passed)

Frank Vanclay then requested Dr. Ki-Whan Chung, the proposed Local Arrangements Chair for the 2008 World Congress, to present an overview of the Korean bid. Dr. Chung tabled a very detailed, professionally produced formal proposal outlining all aspects of the planned Congress. He indicated that they would like to hold it in Seoul, Korea. It will be hosted by the Korean Rural Sociology Society (KRSS) in collaboration with the Korean Rural Economic Institute (KREI). He identified the proposed Programme Chair, (Yoshio Kawamura), Programme Co-Chair (Cheong), and Programme Deputy Chair (Jussaume) and indicated that the preferred time for the World Congress would be from June 22-28, 2008. The proposed Congress theme is “Envisioning a Prosperous Rural Future in a Globalizing World.” Ki-Whan Chung then reviewed elements of the proposed organisation and implementation of the World Congress, indicating that they will be similar to those of the XI World Congress. They expect to host about 1,000 participants, many of whom will come from Asia. The proposed budget is balanced and includes the provision of revenues from registration fees, sponsors, and other sources. Ki-Whan Chung assured everyone that personal safety is not an issue, noting that Korea has had extensive experience in organising successful large international conferences.

Frank Vanclay indicated that he had the opportunity to visit Korea in June 2004 when he attended the RC24 Environmental Sociology conference. While in Seoul, he had the opportunity to meet with the Korean delegation, inspect the proposed facilities, and discuss finer points of the proposal. He indicated that he was very impressed wth what he has seen, and he strongly recommended that the proposal be accepted by Council. Several Council members expressed their satisfaction with the proposal and congratulated the Korean delegation for their efforts. Issues that were raised in ensuring discussion included clarification of which costs will be covered by registration fees, the potential need to vary registration fees to reflect ability of delegates from lower income countries to pay, and the most appropriate dates for the Congress.

Frank Vanclay mentioned that the issue of holding the Congress in a city a 10,000,000 represented something of a paradox, given that we represent a “rural” perspective. He also noted that the use of a very large convention center was also new. He suggested that Council accept the bid in principle with the understanding that details can be worked out in the future.

Motion: Korea be recognized as the location for the 2008 World Congress and the Executive Committee finalise a Memorandum of Understanding for the hosting of the Congress. (Unanimously Passed)

Frank Vanclay then asked for a discussion of the proposed dates of the Congress. European Council members indicated that late August was best for them because of other commitments. AON members indicated that this timing would be difficult for them because they will be teaching then. Following length discussion on various dates, Frank Vanclay recommended that the Korean delegation consider holding the Conference during the first week of July. This recommendation was approved by the Council.

Frank Vanclay then asked Council to recognise and thank the Korean delegation for their efforts in preparing such an excellent proposal and for their presentation to Council. Council did so by providing Ki-Whan Chung and other members of the Korean delegation with an enthusiastic round of applause.

He also announced that Ki-Whan Chung now automatically becomes a member of the In-Coming Council as Local Arrangements Chair and that Yoshio Kawamura now automatically becomes a member as In-Coming Programme Chair.

Frank Vanclay brought up proposed changes to the Constitution. He noted that the Executive Committee has been able to road test the proposed changes by applying many of them to IRSA activities during the past two years. The following motions for alterations in the Constitution were considered by the Council:

Motion: The IRSA Council approves the replacement of ‘elect’ with ‘nominate’ in Article 6(b) of the Constitution. (Passed)

Motion: The IRSA Council approves the exemption of the Secretary-Treasurer in Article 7(c ) of the Constitution. (Passed)

Hilary Tovey raised a concern about wording in Article 12(b) of the Constitution, noting that the wording Probi Viri was sexist. She also mentioned that she had made this point at the 2002 Council Meeting in Brisbane and had through that we had agreed to fix it then.

It was moved that the IRSA Council approve a change to Article 12(b) deleting the words “to be known as the Probi Viri Council, and”. (Passed)

Motion: The Constitution as amended be approved and recommended to the General Assembly. (Passed)

Frank Vanclay then discussed proposed additional changes to the By-laws. The following motions for change were considered and approved by Council:

Motion: IRSA Council approves the inclusion in By-law 2 of a procedure to provide a waiver of dues payments to regional associations in cases of hardship (Passed)

Motion: IRSA Council approves a change to By-law 4 to specify that the manner of vote counting will be by the Preferential Counting method (with the understanding that Council members need not vote for everyone on an election slate. (Passed)

Motion: IRSA Council approves mention of the Out-Going President in By-law 6. (Passed)

Motion: IRSA Council approves a change to By-law 2 so that it reads as follows:

Motion: IRSA Council approve that the By-laws as amended be approved and recommended to the General Assembly. (Passed)

Frank Vanclay then introduced proposed changes to the Procedural Manual, which were presented as a series of motions to be passed by the Council.

Motion: IRSA Council approves the Secretary-Treasurer as someone entitled to reimbursements in the Reimbursement Section of the Procedural Manual. (Passed)

Motion: IRSA Council approves a range of other cosmetic and grammatical changes to the Procedural Manual as tabled by President Frank Vanclay at the Council meeting of 25 July 2004. (Passed)

Motion: The Procedural Manual as amended be approved and forwarded to the General Assembly for noting. (Passed)

Frank Vanclay then initiated discussion of possible nominees for the position of Editor of the Elsevier published book series, “Research in Rural Sociology and Development (RRSD)” which is published with endorsement by RSS, IRSA and ESRS. He asked for names of candidates for this position. Considerable discussion ensued regarding the organisation of the editorial dimension of this series, including the role of board members. Council noted a list of possible candidates presented by Frank Vanclay. Hilary Tovey suggested that some comment about the role of the Editorial Board needed to be conveyed to Fred Buttel.

Motion: The IRSA Council recommends that members suggest additional names for the position of Editor to Frank Vanclay during the current IRSA Congress, and that the issue of what names to be put forward and/or statement to make to Fred Buttel be resolved by the Executive Committee. (Passed)

Frank Vanclay then brought up the possibility that papers from the XI World Congress be posted to the IRSA website. He noted that this topic had been discussed at the informal meeting held that morning. Various pros and cons for this activity were discussed. Some indicated that posting articles would encourage additional use of the IRSA website, and others indicated that it would facilitate World Congress participation by some since they might find it easier to obtain support for attendance if they could show that their papers would be posted on the website. Others argued against the proposal, indicating that there could be major quality, liability and other troubling issues associated with it.

Motion: The IRSA Council recommends, in principle, that conference papers be published on the website and entrusts the Executive Committee to finalize any remaining concerns. (Passed)

Frank Vanclay then brought up some issues that should be of concern to us in the future. One is to develop relationships with rural sociology in Africa. The Organisation of Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) is a logical point of contact for doing so. He argued that IRSA should consider Africa as the potential site for the 2012 World Congress. He strongly encouraged the In-Coming Council to approve this suggestion. He then mentioned the development of proposals for World Congresses. It is important in the future that proposals be nurtured by the IRSA Executive Committee. He noted that the Executive Committee needs to link with sponsors to provide real subsidies and discounts that will enable greater attendance at the World Congresses. The capacity of IRSA Executive Committee to work with sponsors needs to be strengthened. IRSA also needs to increase opportunities for rural sociologists to publish their research. He then suggested that the Executive Committee, with advice from Council, continue to make the IRSA website a more useful resource.

Frank Vanclay then thanked Dave Hansen, Secretary/Treasurer, for the support given to him during his term as President. He indicated that the Council has accomplished much during the past four years. He thanked Council for its support of his agenda, and for working with him to accomplish concrete objectives during his administration.

The meeting was formally closed at 16:05.

Present
Reidar Almas, Local Arrangements, 2004
Heather Aslin, AON
Hugh Campbell, AON
David Hansen, RSS
Stewart Lockie, AON
Phil McMichael, RSS
Mark Shucksmith, Program Chair, 2004
Hilary Tovey, ESRS
Frank Vanclay, President, IRSA

Apologies
Alessandro Bonanno, RSS
Anita Brumer, ALASRU
Goran Djurfeldt, ESRS
Marit Haugen, Local Arrangements, 2004
Imre Kovach, ESRS
Bernardino Mata G., ALASRU
Diego Pineiro, ALASRU
Adboulaye Sene, Africa

Vanclay called the meeting to order at 1:45 p.m.

1.) Vanclay opened the session with a discussion of the minutes for the Council and General Assembly meetings in Rio. He asked if it would be appropriate to solicit formal acceptance of minutes of these meetings, which had been previously distributed by e-mail. He indicated that e-mail may be best way to solicit feedback on minutes given that not all Council members are able to attend all of the meetings. Vanclay moved that minutes for July 30 and August 4, 2000 Council meetings be adopted. Lockie seconded the motion, which was unanimously passed. Vanclay noted that minutes for the 2,000 General Assembly will be presented for adoption at the following General Assembly in Trondheim in 2004.

2.) Vanclay then initiated a discussion of the significance of the mid-term meeting. He asked if IRSA should give it a high profile given potential importance for planning the next World Congress. Council members concurred with this perspective, and supported the notion that all Council members should be encouraged to attend future meetings.

3.) Hansen then presented an updated Financial Report for the Association. It documented expenditures and receipts of funds since March, 2001, when he initiated his tenure in this position. Aslin moved that the statement be received and approved by Council. Seconded by Tovey, the motion was unanimously approved.

4.) Vanclay initiated a discussion about member associations. He brought up a recurrent problem of timely receipt of dues payments from member associations. Currently, ESRS, ALASRU, RSS and AON are in good standing. Discussion focused on RUM and the fact that it was an active regional association in the past, but that it have not been active for some time, nor has it paid dues for some time. Almas proposed that the Secretary/Treasurer make all reasonable attempts to have RUM pay its dues prior to the end of the year. He motioned that if it does not pay its dues by the end of the year, it should no longer be considered to be a member of IRSA. This motion was seconded by Aslin and unanimously passed.

5.) Vanclay then moved the discussion to the membership status of ARSA. ARSA has participated in previous IRSA activities; and Japanese representatives actually presented a bid for the 2004 World Congress in Rio. Vanclay mentioned that ARSA has had representatives on Council, but that it has as yet not made formal application to join IRSA. Tovey motioned that IRSA treat ARSA membership and dues payments in the same way as for RUM. The motion was seconded by Aslin and adopted unanimously.

6.) Shucksmith noted that interaction with ARSA should be handled with great tact, given the complexities of East and Southeast Asian national politics. Vanclay mentioned that IRSA is seriously considering Asia as the site for the 2008 World Congress. He argued that the opportunity to host the World Congress can be used to encourage them to formally join IRSA. Tovey asked about rural sociology in India. Vanclay indicated that it has been present in India as a discipline for a long time, but that it is embedded in sociology as a discipline. Vanclay mentioned that it would be nice if ARSA could officially host the Congress. Tovey indicated that ARSA would have to be a solid member by 2004 if it were to host the 2008 conference.

7.) Since the Rio Council meeting, IRSA’s African regional representative has been Prof Abdouleye Sene, who has been the principal link between CODESRIA (the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa) and IRSA. Vanclay communicated with CODESRIA last year. Sene recently reconfirmed with Vanclay that CODESRIA is interested in becoming a member of IRSA.

8.) Vanclay then discussed proposed changes to the Constitution. He indicated that we need to change the fee structure, because it is inequitable for less developed regions and because IRSA has found it difficult to collect dues. He further indicated that other organizations also wanted to join IRSA. Tovey asked why we favor regional member associates as opposed to national member associates? Vanclay indicated that this was for historical reasons – regional associations (ESRS, RSS and ALASRU) originally formed IRSA. He noted that they might question why national associations were to be admitted. Another concern might be the potential large number of representatives on Council that could result. Tovey suggested that individual national rural sociological organizations should have full representation on Council. Considerable discussion followed. In closing the discussion, Vanclay proposed that the issue be decided at the 2004 General Assembly and he indicated that he would draft several alternative wordings to be considered by the Assembly. The proposal was approved by Council.

9.) In response to points raised by Tovey, Vanclay proposed that Article 3.a of the Constitution be amended by adding the clause, “subject to the approval of Council” and by deleting this wording from various places in Article 3.b. This proposal was approved by Council.

10.) Vanclay then discussed the proposed revision in By-laws. He mentioned that changes to the membership structure implied changes in the fee structure as well. Hansen raised a concern about the considerable loss of revenue to IRSA that would result from this proposed change. Vanclay recalled a statement he made at the Rio Council meeting that ‘whether IRSA liked it or not, it was inevitably “in the Conference business”.’ IRSA’s main source of income should be revenue surpluses from Conferences. He indicated that a small percentage surplus from a Conference would make membership fee income almost insignificant by comparison, given the large amount of funding involved in Conferences. Almas indicated that we will then need to be very careful about where we will hold Conferences. He questioned whether it would be possible to get Conference organizers to think in terms of generating surpluses. He thought that the Rio Conference was somewhat atypical and that, even for the Trondheim meetings, it would be difficult to generate a surplus. Others also raised a concern that “international conferences” can have high levels of financial risk associated with them. Tovey opposed the notion that one of the purposes of Conferences was to generate “profits.” (surplus revenues). The appropriateness of using Conference surplus revenues to support developmental work by IRSA was also raised. Tovey asked if membership fees under the reduced fee structure would be sufficient to cover the development costs of IRSA. Vanclay indicated that this would probably not be the case. A system of differential fees was discussed at length with members agreeing that a differential system should be considered. Council agreed to consider this further and Vanclay indicated that differential fees would be included in the options to be presented to the General Assembly in 2004.

11.) Vanclay indicated that By-law 11, which deals with the audit of IRSA finances, will be changed by deleting the term “professional auditor,” since this category is not readily used in the USA. A senior figure associated with IRSA will asked to perform this service. Council approved this action.

12.) In discussing the IRSA Procedural Manual, questions were again raised about the World Congresses generating “profit.” The point was raised that acceptable surpluses generated by some Congresses are needed to buffer possible losses by other Congresses in order to promote their occurrence in regions of the world where “financial risk” is greater. Vanclay agreed to change the language in the section on “Organisational Arrangements relating to Congresses” to reflect these concerns.

13.) It was suggested that the wording of the section on “Reimbursement of Expenses” be changed to reflect that, on occasion, the President may be represented by an appropriate Council member. Council members approved the proposed change in wording.

14). Vanclay moved and Tovey seconded that IRSA make a contribution towards the costs for the Secretary/Treasurer, acting as the President’s representative, to attend the ALASRU meetings in Porto Alegre in November, 2002. This motion was unanimously passed.

15.) Vanclay asked if we want to identify a preferred site for 2008, namely, Africa or Asia. Considerable discussion ensued. Lockie asked if individual country associations could present a bid. Almas moved and Tovey seconded that priority be given to Africa and Asia. This motion passed unanimously.

16.) Almas discussed the 2004 meeting in Trondheim. The Congress will be held from July 25-30. A contract has been signed with a private firm to manage it. Over 500 participants are expected. Budgeting is based on scenarios that involve from 350 to 700 participants. Cheap hotel and university rooms have been reserved for the Conference.

17.) Almas reported that translators, f used, will consume from 10-20% of the proposed budget for the 2004 Congress in Trondheim. He recommended that it be an English language Conference only. Considerable discussion of appropriate language policy for the Conference followed. Summarizing the discussion, Almas was asked to pursue all possible avenues to secure sponsorship, specifically for translation. It was suggested that French embassies might have finances available for this purpose. Should he be unsuccessful in obtaining this sponsorship, Council reluctantly accepted the fact that no translation services would be provided.

18.) Shucksmith had previously circulated the proposed World Congress theme statement. Vanclay moved that Almas and Shucksmith immediately be authorized to distribute the Program Theme, including at the ISA meeting in Brisbane. The motion was seconded by Lockie and unanimously passed.

19.) Almas agreed to prepare a plan of action for the Conference in 2004 to be presented to Council for its consideration and guidance.

20.) Vanclay updated Council on IRSA Journal Task Force activities. Norman Long, the nominated editor, had recently asked to withdraw from this obligation. Several other assumptions regarding the development of the journal have not materialized, and the required outside sponsorship has not been achieved. Given the JAI/Elsevier book series, which the IRSA Executive Committee had endorsed, it was felt that there was a potential overlap between the proposed journal and the book series. Vanclay felt that IRSA’s objective in having a journal could be met by endorsement of the book series. Vanclay proposed that he officially inform CABI that we are not pursuing the journal initiative at this time. This motion was seconded by Aslin and unanimously passed.

21.) The IRSA Council ratified the Executive Committee’s actions in endorsing the JAI/Elsevier Book Series to be edited by Fred Buttel. The Executive Committee had previously nominated Norman Long, in his projected capacity as IRSA’s Journal Editor, to be IRSA’s representative on the Advisory Board for the Book Series. However, given the decision not to pursue creation of the journal, Vanclay suggested that it was no longer obvious that Norman Long should represent IRSA. Tovey moved that Frank Vanclay be IRSA’s representative. The motion was seconded by Shucksmith and unanimously passed. Given that Fred Buttel had specifically requested that Norman Long continue to be on the Advisory Board, Vanclay was instructed to advise Buttel that IRSA will support any arrangement to involve Long in an advisory capacity to the Book Series.

Meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m.

Present

Douglas H. Constance, Sam Houston State University, U.S. RSS
Theodore Downing, University of Arizona, U.S. INDR Guest
Stewart Lockie, Central Queensland University, Australia AON
Alessandro Bonanno, Sam Houston State University, U.S. RSS/VP
Joe Molnar, Auburn University, U.S. RSS/Past Pres.
Hugh Campbell, Otago University, New Zealand AON
Yair Levi, CIRCOM, Israel RUM
Imre Kovach, Institute for Political Sciences, Hungary ESRS
Hillary Tovey, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland ESRS
Goran Djurfeldt, University of Lund, Sweden ESRS
Atsushi Kitahara, Nagoya University, Japan ARSA
Rosiady Sayuti, University of Mataram, Indonesia ARSA
Marit S. Haugen, Centre for Rural Research, Trondeim, Norway ESRS
Reider Almas, Centre for Rural Research, Trondeim, Norway ESRS
Mark Shucksmith, Arkleton Rural Dev. Centre, Aberdeen, Scotland ESRS
Diego Pineiro, Dept. of Sociology, Univ. de la Repblica, Uruguay ALASRU
Abdoulaye Sene, ISE/UCAD, Dakar, Senegal CODESRIA
Anita Brumer, Universidade Federal de Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil ALASRU
Bernardino Mata, Universidad Autonoma Chapingo, Mexico ALSARU
Alan Rew, CDS, University of Wales, Swansea, UK. INDR Guest

Vanclay called the meeting to order. He explained the agenda and called for introductions. He then discussed member society representatives and representation from each member society.

Vanclay then introduced Abdoulaye Sene from Senegal. Sene asked to work with IRSA towards securing member status for CODESRIA, an African Social Science organization represented by him.
Lockie motioned for acceptance of Sene as an interim representative for the African region and for IRSA to negotiate with CODESRIA to become a member organization. Djurfeldt seconded the motion which was unanimously passed.

Ted Downing, representing the International Network of Displacement and Resettlement (INDR), expressed interest in linking his organization with IRSA. He indicated that INDR seeks IRSA membership or similar status. Vanclay replied that the IRSA Constitution is not clear on how to handle this category of membership and that it needs to be changed if IRSA is to accept interest group as members. He then asked Downing to leave the room for IRSA Council discussion. After discussion on the category of membership, fees, and necessary changes to the Constitution and By-laws, Vanclay called for a motion to invite them to stay for the meeting with the understanding that a full discussion of their status will occur at a later date. Bonanno so moved and Tovey seconded. The motion carried by a vote of 7 to 1.

Allan Rue (INDR) returned to meeting and Downing excused himself. Rue provided more information about INDR and informed the Council that INDR does collect dues and is ready to contribute dues if incorporated into IRSA.

Vanclay then called for a discussion of issues related to the Congress. Initially, it centered around (a) the mugging of a woman and theft of her camera; (b) the limited space for workshops and symposia; (c) the volume of papers and lack of discussion of them; and (d) the lack of flexibility and lack of responsibility given to workshop leaders, who did not participate in the selection of papers in their own sessions ­ papers were not circulated prior to the Congress.

Vanclay reported that 1,546 participants from 72 countries has registered for the Congress. Of these, 952 were from Brazil. The Congress was originally planned for 400 participants and this number was subsequently expanded to 700. The Congress was originally programmed to take place only in Hotel Gloria, but this left a shortage of rooms for workshops as the number of participants expanded to over 1500 with the late registrants. This greatly reduced the flexibility. Since only 250 abstracts had been received by the original closing date of January 30, the date for receiving abstracts was extended for one more month. IRSA received another 1000 abstracts between February 26-28, 2000.

Several Council members suggested that the January deadline was inappropriate because it conflicted with the Brazilian vacation period. The lessons to be learned are that more flexibility is needed and that program facilities that can handle last minute changes are also needed. A concern was also raised that that the registration fee did not cover several events considered basic to the Congress. Some asked about the relationship between SOBER and IRSA, and voice concern about the large number of Brazilian participants. Vanclay responded that it was planned to be a joint conference with joint workshops, with a 50/50 split of surplus revenues generated. In this regard, the larger size of the conference made the Congress more successful.

Some Council members noted that the 2004 World Congress in Norway would be smaller, and that Rio was not a normal IRSA Congress. They also indicated that the current World Congress was a great boost for Rural Sociology internationally. Vanclay then turned the discussion to appropriate Congress strategies, such as choosing between smaller and larger universities and choosing between smaller or larger venues. Some Council members argued that bigger is good, but that bigger without discussion is not good. Others noted that language barriers created time constraints and the allocation of too much time to experts and too little time to other participants. All agreed that presenters in Norway should be allocated more than 10 minute.

Vanclay reported that the Congress received over 1700 abstracts, with most of those coming in the last week of February. This greatly increased the numbers of papers per workshop just prior to the Congress. He also identified the three presentation models used at the Congress, namely, (1) workshop papers which review individual research; (2) symposia which discuss current topics/trends; and (3) plenary sessions, which are in depth and provide opportunities for questions and answers. Vanclay discussed the high cost of technology and personnel for translations. He commented that symposia were not well attended and that they were expensive because of the use of translators. He noted that IRSA needs to work on this in the future. He also commented that IRSA needs to keep its international focus and, therefore, needs to continue to present in difference languages while attempting to overcome language barriers.

Vanclay noted that, the revised IRSA constitution was passed at the General Assembly. He then turned to the need to discuss some follow up items. Because IRSA is registered in the US as a tax exempt 501 c(3), the Secretary/Treasurer must reside in the US. IRSA is also required to have By-laws. Luloff, the past Secretary/Treasurer, proposed By-laws in 1996. The revised Constitution requires that we revise the By-laws. The IRSA Constitution represents structure and By-laws represent procedures. He asked for volunteers to draft By-laws by 2002 to permit us to have a final version of them by 2004. Bonanno suggests that by-laws be decided by the IRSA Executive Committee. Vanclay indicated that he would circulate a draft of the revised Constitution in order to receive feedback from Council members.

Vanclay then gave an overview of IRSA’s structure. Member societies with more than 100 members elect 3 representatives to the Council for four year terms. Member societies with less than 100 members elect 1 member to the Council. Currently, dues are $2 per member of each member society. If the member society does not pay dues, it is not in good standing with IRSA. The General Assembly consists of all members of all the member societies. The IRSA Council consists of elected representatives of the member societies. The Executive Committee includes the President, two Vice-Presidents, the Secretary/Treasurer, the future Program Chair, previous Program Chair, and the Local Arrangements Chair. The role of the Secretary/Treasurer is clarified by changes in the Constitution. An issue is whether in incumbent of this position should be a voting member of the Committee. This issue will be taken later.

Vanclay predicted that surplus revenues from this World Congress will be about US$20,000. These funds will be shared equally by IRSA and SOBER. Extra charges were made for room used past 6:00 p.m. and other expenses are still outstanding. Final expenses will be shared in subsequent budget reports.

Members expressed concern that IRSA is a federation of regional members, and that IRSA needs clear communication between the Executive Committee and the member associations. Some argued that one member from each member society be identified as a point person for communication with the IRSA Executive Committee. Vanclay replied that according to the old Constitution, Council members from each member society representative were nominated for eight years. In the new Constitution, member society Council members serve four year terms with the possibility of reappointment for another four years if the member society believes that its representatives are doing a good job. In this process, the role of the Secretary/Treasurer is to facilitate communication. The work of the Executive Committee is done by e-mail; The primary objective of IRSA is to hold a World Congress every four years. An e-mail vote for the new Secretary/Treasurer will occur six months from now. He asked all Council members to think about potential U.S. candidates.

Vanclay then called for discussion of the next World Congress at Trondeim, Norway. He suggested that we hold the bid from Japan in reserve in case the Norway site does not become firm. He asked Almas what we should do to firm up the Trondeim bid. Almas replied that we need to consider an increase in the Conference fee in order to cover variable costs. One of the advantages of the Rio World Congress was contract with Congrex to provide for local arrangements. This is greatly preferable to having university staff/students do them. He expects to have between 500 and 900 participants with backup site if participant numbers exceed 1000. Bonanno asked if we had any indicators for the expected number of participants at Trondeim. Almas replied that this is very difficult to judge, and that continuous adjustments in numbers from each country will have to be made. He repeated the need to set the registration fee high enough to cover variable costs. Vanclay indicated that registration fees can be fixed in two ways: (1) set them low in anticipation of receiving sponsor donations, or (2) set them high to ensure that costs are covered, even with a low number of registrations. A worst case scenario would be 200 registrations; 500 registrations would be normal; and 700 registrations would be a high estimate. He reminded Council that the Rio World Congress had $150,000 in sponsorship support. He also expressed a concern about how to cover Hotel contract commitments. He noted that IRSA needs to provide a service to members, but that it is also in the business of putting on conferences. Members voiced concerns about the business approach. Several suggested that we take an organizational view and asked for time to discuss this topic. Others suggested that, if IRSA were to established high registration feeds, that it subsidize poorer country participants in order to increase their attendance.

Kovach predicted that Norway will have about 500 attendees. He reminded the Council that we are Trondeim is not Rio. Vanclay then asked for next steps regarding the Trondeim Bid. Almas responded that the Trondeim group will stay with the bid, but that it might raise fees by $50 in order to hire contract with an agency to assist with local arrangements. They will also seek funding to support travel by non-established scholars. Flights from Oslo to Trondeim cost about US$100. One excursion is included in the bid. He also mentioned that they expect outside financial support for the Congress. His institution is fully supportive of the bid and confident. It will prepare a “stepped” model in order to handle unexpected large numbers of participants. Some suggested that IRSA should provide incentives for early registration, including clear identification of final submission dates for abstracts. Almas indicated that a cut off date for papers and giving additional time to those who register early are good ideas.

Vanclay noted that some have remarked that fee differences between registrants from OECD and non-OECD nations are unfair. Mexico and Poland are in the OECD and must, therefore, pay higher fees, but this was deemed inappropriate. He noted that IRSA needs to identify a classification consistent with national incomes, like that used by the International Sociological Association. Vanclay then called for a motion to identify an alternative to the OECD/non-OECD classification for registration fee structure. Bonanno so moved and Pineiro seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Vanclay then noted that the Program Chair is appointed by the IRSA Council, but that bids are more about the program than local arrangements. He proposes that IRSA ask bidders to nominate a Program Chair because of language and related reasons. Bonanno argued for that the program agenda should be considered independently of local arrangements. Vanclay responded that the success of a Conference depends on the ability of the Program Chair and the local arrangements representatives to work together, which is more than a language issue. Djurfeldt indicated that this would require a change in the bidding process since Norway only bid on local arrangements. He voiced a concern that linking program content with local arrangements might increase the risk of losing international scope. He suggested that maybe a Program Committee might resolve this problem.

Vanclay suggested that the Council consider Mark Shucksmith as the new Program Chair.
Tovey asks for clarification about who determines the Congress theme and the Program Chair.
Vanclay indicated that, according to the old Constitution, the President sets the Congress theme and picks the Program Chair; but that, according to the new Constitution, the Executive Committee will set the theme and pick the Program Chair. The Program Chair will subsequently identify the Congress theme and the Executive Committee will evaluate it. Bonanno noted that the Program Committee usually assists the Program Chair. He asked for clarification of the role of the Program Committee. The Program Committee should not be a token committee; rather responsibilities of the Program Chair and the Program Committee need to be clear and followed.

Vanclay commented that a selection process for the Program Committee and identification of its appropriate roles need to be included in the By-laws. He had anticipated that workshop and symposium coordinators would act as the Program Committee for the Rio World Congress, but he was informed that this was inappropriate. He noted that we should clarify the proper role of the Program Committee.

Levi commented that when number of workshops was increased from 10 to 44, the role of the workshop coordinators was necessarily usurped. He noted, however, that workshop coordinators should be kept in the loop. Vanclay replied that extension of the submission deadline and resulting large increase in papers negatively affected the original workshop design. Almas stated that the local arrangements committee at Trondheim will be prepared to handle late registrations.

Vanclay then asked for a nomination of Mark Shucksmith as the Norway Program Chair. He also expressed concerns about the Program Chair nomination process and the need to revise the By-laws. Tovey argued that it is better to have Program Chair with a passion for the theme. Vanclay indicated that all Council members should participate. He then asked Shucksmith to leave the room.

Vanclay argued that bids should be a package that includes proposed local arrangements and a recommendation for program chair. He again stressed that a critical factor for successful conferences is the ability of the Program Chair to work well with the local arrangements group. The division of labor between them needs to be clear. Tovey asks if whether the bid should just include the Program Chair or also the theme and details. Vanclay replied that the Norway bidders have time to think about who they might choose as Program Chair. Tovey argued that a theme should be a part of any future bid. Vanclay agreed that future bids should include Program Chair and Conference theme suggestions. Almas cautioned the Council be careful, indicating that it might be unrealistic to expect to expect bids to include recommendations for Program Chair and a program theme. Requiring them might limit the number of bids that come in to IRSA.

Vanclay asked again for the nomination of Shucksmith to be the Program Chair for the Trondeim proposal. Council members asked for more information about and from Shucksmith who was then invited back into the room. He was asked to tell the IRSA Council about himself and his vision for the proposed Trondheim World Congress.

Shucksmith indicated that he has been at the University of Aberdeen for nineteen years and that he is currently the Director of a Research Center. During the past ten years he has focused his research on social exclusion, inequality, poverty, endogenous rural development and capacity building/social capital, including the family farm and its sustainability. For the last three years he has been the director of a large project supported by the J. Roundtree Foundation. He indicated that he could only take on Program Chair responsibilities with the help of a Program Committee, in order to supplement his interpersonal networks. He indicated that the theme for the Congress would be related to his personal research foci.

Vanclay then asked Shucksmith to leave the room again. Sayuti motioned to approve Shucksmith as the Program Chair for the proposed Trondeim bid. Campbell seconded the motion which unanimously carried. Vanclay then invited Shucksmith back to talk more about the theme. He indicated a preference to focus on globalization and its consequences ala neo-liberal restructuring and the impact that they have on government regulation issues, new forms of government, forms of resistance to globalization, and processes of exclusion and inclusion.

Bonanno requested that dialogue be included as a focus. Djurfeldt recommended that the Council be involved in setting the theme and building the program through e-mail. Rew indicated that the theme is appropriate for the INDR group. Vanclay asked how the Program Chair is established. Bonanno replied that the Program Chair is a recognized entity who acts like a Prime Minister and appoints the Program Committee. He then called for dialogue between the Program Chair and the IRSA Council to select the Program Committee. Pineiro suggested that the Program Committee have at least one representative for each member society. Vanclay reported that the Program Committee for the Rio Congress was selected through a dialogic process between him and the local arrangements committee which was formed in response to emerging pressures. He indicated that the Program Chair needs people on the Program Committee that will work. Vanclay then asked for motion that the Program Chair nominate preferred members for the Program Committee and report the names to the IRSA Council/President who will deem if it has adequate representation. Tovey so motioned. It was seconded by Lockie and unanimously passed.

Almas argued for the same process to be used by for local arrangements, with the Local Arrangements Committee nominating a local Program Chair and submitting the nomination to IRSA Council for approval. Tovey so moved and Bonanno seconded. This motion also was unanimously approved.

Vanclay then asked for discussion of a long-term approach for bids. He asked if IRSA should be more proactive and suggested that IRSA might focus on a successful Japanese bid for 2008 and one from Africa in 2012.

He asked if IRSA has other important roles to play in addition to organizing the World Congress every four years. He asked if IRSA should initiate a journal, thus acting as a clearinghouse for rural sociological information. He asked Djurfeldt for his views on this topic. Djurfeldt reported that there would be problems associated with the creation of a journal, including its niche identification. He suggested that an IRSA journal might was to have a focus similar to that of the International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, but with more of a global thrust. He indicated that he would like to cultivate a small circle of supporters, including potential publishers, and to solicit their assistance in possibly initiating a new journal. Sayuti asked about the possibility of creating an electronic journal. Djurfeldt responded that this option would be both problematic and opportunistic.

Tovey reported about the financial standing of member societies. He indicated that only AON is current and asked representatives of the member societies to help get them current. Pineiro replied that ALASRU is current. Tovey indicated that she will check on the status of ESRS. Vanclay then asked for the minutes to reflect that ALASRU is current in its dues payments and to have the Secretary/Treasurer remedy this error. He asked Council for advice about RUM since it has not responded to IRSA about past dues payments. Annual member society dues are equivalents to $2/year for each of its individual members. He asked if IRSA should eliminate dues and seek to generate revenues from only from Conferences. He indicated that he supports some form a annual payment as a symbol of commitment and suggests that the IRSA Council think about the fee structure. He also noted that ARSA needs to formalize its links to IRSA, including payment of annual dues.

Vanclay closed the meeting at 18:13.

Prepared by Douglas H. Constance, Acting Secretary/Treasurer

Minutes from IRSA General Assembly Meeting
Hotel Gloria, Rio de Janeiro
August 2, 2000

President Molnar called the meeting to order at 18:35. He welcomed those in attendance and introduced representatives from the IRSA member societies. He indicated that since the Secretary/Treasurer, Al Luloff, was not present, there were no minutes from the last meeting of the General Assembly in Romania to be read.

President-elect Vanclay reported that 1521 registrations had been received for the Congress. He indicated the need for workshop coordinators to give more attention to time constraints because IRSA must pay for rooms by the hour. He asked that workshop summary forms be given to Congrex staff for final report preparation.

Tovey reported that some participants were concerned about the fees for all social events being charge separately rather than being included in the registration fee. Some attendees voiced concern about their limited budgets for the Congress and their ability to attend these events. Molnar replied that costs for many Conference activities were not included in the registration fee to keep it as low as possible. He noted that IRSA needs to better inform future Congress attendees about these decisions. He also mentioned that spare CD ROMs are available for 10 Brazilian Reales. Molnar announced that IRSA and the Conference organizers have granted permission for participants to copy any of them.

Program Chair Vanclay gave his report which emphasized (1) that translators had worked very hard and that IRSA is grateful to them; and (2) that costs for translations were very high, which limited the ability to provide this service. He thanked workshop coordinators for attending the training session which contributed to the success of the Conference. Tovey expressed concerns about how decisions were made about where to use translators. She noted that none were available in the Rural Women sessions. Vanclay explained that the plenary sessions and symposia had translators, but that workshops did not because of the lack of translators and funding. Tovey mentioned that symposia should have had representatives, thus ensuring that each major area of interest had been covered.

ARSA representatives recommended that Portuguese and English sessions not be integrated. Rather they argued that they might have been best held in separate rooms, since they were a waste of time for many because of language difficulties. Vanclay replied that a goal of the international conference was to mix the presentations and that workshop paper presenters were asked to hand out English and other language abstracts in the sessions.

Molnar gave the Treasurer’s Report. He reported a current balance of US$19,359. He noted that several regional associations were delinquent in paying membership dues payments, especially RUM. He further noted that this Congress had generated surplus revenues, although final numbers are not yet in.

Molnar asked for Vanclay to discuss proposed Constitutional revisions. Vanclay reported that a concern had been expressed about sexist language in the Constitution at the 1992 IRSA meeting at Penn State. Upon closer scrutiny, Council recognized that the Constitution was unworkable, because procedures were unclear. It recognized a need for a major overhaul. Council thus appointed a Task Force which held many meetings, which included discussions about the IRSA website. The final version of these revisions has been on the website for over a year with comments from IRSA Council members. The revised document was forwarded to IRSA members for comments six months ago. And IRSA Council approved the proposed changes to the Constitution at its meeting on Sunday, July 30. Changes include:

• removal of sexist language;
• internationalization of language;
• voting by e-mail;
• correction of logical ambiguities in language;
• creation of logical flow;
• discussion of procedures to meet quorums and membership proxy voting;
• reduced terms of office from 8 to 4 years with the understanding that elected members are eligible to hold office for eight consecutive years if they receive continued support from member associations (done to create better liaison between regional representatives and the IRSA Executive Committee.
• alteration of presidential terms among member associations each four years; and
• transfer of much of the authority of the President to the IRSA Executive Committee and IRSA Council.

Vanclay further clarified that IRSA’s Council members had received these proposed changes to the Constitution several months prior to the World Congress and that they had unanimously approved them. Molnar asked for questions about the proposed changes. There being none, he asked for a motion to endorse the changes to the IRSA Constitution. Djurfeldt moved for adoption of the changes, and Tovey seconded. The motion was unanimously passed.

Molnar then expressed his thanks for the support he had received from the IRSA Council and for the hard work undertaken by the Council members. He then asked if there was any new business. He recognized Arch Haller, who noted that despite IRSA being 25 years old, that it still has continuity problems for several reasons. First, he noted that IRSA was created by FAO in the late 1960’s. Alvaro Chaparro, PhD from Penn State, was then an FAO officer in Rome. He and FAO wanted to establish an international rural sociological association, but needed at least three regional associations to do so. At the time, only RSS and ESRS existed. ALASRU was created to make it possible. IRSA was created in 1972 at the University of Sao Paulo, and its first President was Jose Pastore. Haller recommended that Council reestablish relations with FAO in order to facilitate institutional continuity. Second, he suggested that Council consider identifying an Historian for IRSA to promote long-term continuity and service to the Council.

Molnar then gave his president’s report. He highlighted the ARSA edited compilation of papers from its 1999 Conference. He then commented on the large amount of work that was done over the past four years, noting that this effort was greatly facilitated by e-mail. It greatly facilitated communication flow and fostered more connectivity among members. He also highlighted the new website which acts as a central node for rural scholars. IRSA outputs are the World Congress, which is held every four years, the website, and a journal/periodic review, similar to the Journal of Economic Literature, which is being considered. He noted that Vanclay will appoint a Task Force to look into the creation of an IRSA journal. He presented Vanclay as the new IRSA President, Bonanno as the First Vice-President, and Kovach as the Second Vice-President. He then thanked everyone for their valuable contributions to IRSA during the past four years.

Antmann thanked Molnar for the leadership he has given to IRSA during this period. Vanclay then provided an outline of potential priority topics to be addressed during the coming four years. He emphasized the following points:

• IRSA is a membership association designed to build links, and it needs to focus on the World Congress in 2004 in order to be successful.
• IRSA needs transparent administrative and site selection processes.
• IRSA needs to constantly review its Constitution in order to keep it current and it needs to constantly review its By-laws to be sure that they are compatible with the Constitution.
• IRSA needs to address its history on its website and to consider creation of the office of Historian.
• IRSA needs to work on rebuilding the links with FAO.
• IRSA needs to consider a possible new role for itself as a clearinghouse for international rural sociology information, thus extending its utility beyond that of a member association.
• IRSA needs to establish clear procedures for selecting World Congress sites (He mentioned that two bids had been received for the 2004 World Congress Ð from Kyoto, Japan and from Trondheim, Norway Ð and that the bid from Trondheim had been accepted, but with the bid from Kyoto being maintained in the event that other not work out. He proposed that IRSA work with ARSA to enable them to host the World Congress in 2008. IRSA cannot guarantee this to happen, but it can increase the probabilities of it happening.
• IRSA needs to continue to work with a possible member association in Africa. CODESRIA Ð Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. IRSA will work with CODESRIA to build African membership.
• IRSA needs to have a twelve year planning horizon.

Molnar called for any questions for Vanclay. Tovey asked about connections with the International Sociological Association that might facilitate the work of IRSA. Molnar responded that this is an excellent point, but that there are many different international sociology associations that might be considered in the same light.

Molnar formally closed the meeting at 19:35

Submitted by Douglas Constance, Acting Secretary.

Members present at IRSA General Assembly.

Present

Joseph Molnar (President);
Frank Vanclay (Vice President);

Atsushi Kitahara (ARSA);
Carlos Antmann (ALASRU);

Monica Bendini (ALASRU);
Alessandro Bonanno (RSS);

Cathy Kassab (RSS);
Goran Djurfeldt (ESRS);

Imre Kovach (ESRS);
Hilary Tovey (ESRS);

Stewart Lockie (AON);
Geoffrey Lawrence (AON)

Prior to the meeting Bonanno (RSS) was asked to serve as secretary for this meeting.

IRSA President Molnar called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. He opened the meeting and asked Council members to introduce themselves. Joe Molnar indicated that the IRSA Secretary/Treasurer, Al Luloff, will not be attending the Congress due to flight complications.

Local arrangements co-chair, Sonia Bermagasco, discussed the format of the Congress and its organization. Christina Castello of Congrex presented a detailed analysis of the manner in which the Congress will take place. Bergamasco reported that 1,780 abstracts were received, but that the actual number of papers that will be read is higher, because some invited speakers did not provide abstracts. As of July 28, 2000, 1,070 people had registered. An additional 200 participants are expected to register. Of those registered, 655 are from South America, 139 are from North America, 144 are from Europe; 66 are from Asia, 20 are from Africa; and 24 are from Oceania. The total budget for the Congress is $288,560. The Congress received $41,000 from Brazilian authorities; $122,077 were collected through registrations; and an additional $80,000 was received from other organizations. Additional contributions totaling $24,000 are also expected. All participants must register as decided at the Planning Committee meeting held in April, 1999. A financial surplus is expected. Financial support from agencies was used to pay plenary session speakers, symposia organizers, and several symposia speakers.

Leonilde Servolo reported on the abstract selection process. It was impossible to involve session organizers in the selection process because most abstracts (>1,000) were submitted during the last three days before the deadline. Only 250 abstracts had been received prior to that period. Servolo reported that selection was done by a local committee consisting of Gian Mario Giuliani, Sonia Regina Mendoza, and herself.

Questions were raised about the Congress program. Bergamasco answered that cuts had to be made because of budget problems. She noted that the restructured program is difficult to read, but should be manageable. Vanclay reported on the activities of the Program Committee and the steps taken to organize the Conference.

Molnar presented the Secretary/Treasurer report. He introduced the newly elected IRSA officers: (1) Frank Vanclay (President); Alessandro Bonnano (First Vice-President); Imre Kovach (Second Vice-President). Molnar stated that forty-eight bid applications for the next World Congress were sent out. Only two were received — one from Norway (Center for Rural Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology; Trondheim) and one from Japan (Ryukoku University, Kyoto). Molnar suggested that the new Council should make the final site selection.

Vanclay indicated that the Council should identify criteria for World Congress site selection, local arrangement committee and program committee. Several criteria for the site selection were identified, including:

• Geopolitical balance;
• Financial soundness (subsidies, institutional support; size and type of risks);
• Rurality of location;
• Transport accessibility;
• Field trips;
• Need-based support;
• Quality of local academic programs;
• Potential impact on the discipline;
• Tourism appeal;
• Personal safety; and
• Commitment of local organizers.

Kitahara commented that Kyoto fits all of these criteria. However, there are some problems concerning costs and transport. Cost will be higher than normal and it is difficult to reach Kyoto. Vanclay stated that there might be a constitutional problem with Japan’s bid as ARSA has not paid its IRSA dues. Vanclay called for a straw vote on the two bids. The motion was seconded by Antmann and the Council voted in favor of the Norwegian bid.

Vanclay reported on the work of the Constitutional Revision Task Force. He noted that the proposed changes were the product of a long process. Changes included the elimination of sexist language, modifications which allow the use of new technological developments, and greater definition of the role and duties of the Secretary/Treasurer. He also indicated that a draft of the proposed changes was sent to member associations, and that member association representatives voted on these changes by e-mail. The revised Constitution will be submitted to the IRSA General Assembly for approval.

Molnar then gave his President’s report. He discussed the IRSA web site that was developed, noting that it resulted in the faster distribution of information. He also encouraged the new Council to work on further improvements of it. He suggested that the position of Secretary/Treasurer be placed in the By-laws. He noted that Al Luloff would take all necessary steps to make the transition to the new Secretary/Treasurer as smooth as possible. IRSA does not currently have a Secretary/Treasurer. Molnar further noted that IRSA should think about expanding its role. He mentioned the creation of a journal an one important option to consider in this regard. He requested and Djurfeldt agreed to explore the possibility of creating such a journal.

Representatives from member organizations then reported on activities of their respective entities. Antmann reported out for ALASRU. He stated that Diego Pineiro was elected President of ALASRU and that the association has between 100 and 200 members. Additionally, it was reported that ALASRU stopped publication of its journal, but that it has published several edited books. The next ALASRU Congress will be held in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in 2002.

Lawrence reported for AON. AON has a virtual network of about 150 members and a journal, Rural Society, which is growing. AON will be actively involved in the organization of the ISA World Congress of Sociology to be held in Brisbane, Australia in 2000.

Kovach reported on activities of ESRS. ESRS held its regional Conference in Lund, Sweden in 1999. Its next Conference will take place in Dijon, France in 2001. Hilary Tovey is ESRS’s new President. And ESRS has established a new summer school for rural sociologists in Finland.

Bonanno reported for RSS. The RSS maintains its members at about 1,000 members. It organizes annual meetings, which are attended by about 500 participants. It continues to publish its journal, Rural Sociology. The new President of RSS is David Brown, Cornell University.

Kitahara then discussed activities of ARSA. ARSA organized its first Congress in Thailand in February, 1999. The proceeding from the Congress will be published at the beginning of 2001. The association does not have a membership system yet.

Molnar mentioned that a network of African associations, CODESRIA, has the potential to become the next IRSA member.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Alessandro Bonnano.