RC34 Board Meeting, 22 September 2001, Milan, Italy
Minutes
Present: Board: LAC, HH, SK; Advisory Board: CL, ST
1. Minutes of the last official Board meeting (Aylesbury, March 2001)
Accepted, with the modification that HH be inserted as having also been present.
2. Matters arising from Aylesbury minutes (unless addressed below)
The Aylesbury minutes may now be posted on the IBYR website (action: HH)
3. Brisbane World Congress
Verbal/written brief reports were received from the majority of session organisers. To date, no-one has received many abstracts, but we expect this to change in the coming months. There will probably be a rush between January and March 2002, as people realise that WC registration closing dates are near.
Specific points
Concern was expressed that Johann Wyn (proposed lead organiser for the Australian youth research schowcase session) has not responded to any messages from LAC at all. Need to clarify definitively whether she will take an active part; if not, find a replacement. (Action: LAC)
Song-Xing Su has expressed concern that Asian scholars will have difficulties in securing funds to travel to Brisbane. There has also been much discussion amongst the ISA RCs in general of the high costs involved for scholars from non-Category A countries. The ISA replies that holding WCs in Europe and North America is no less costly for them, and that travelling to Australia is also costly for those from Category A countries. It is an important ISA principle to hold WCs in all world regions. Nevertheless, there is some concern that Brisbane will attract a relatively small number of participants, especially after the events of 11 September and the consequences for travel patterns and prices. Carles Feixa also reports that the Spanish Sociological Association has already arranged special fares with local airlines for travel to Brisbane. Scholars should encourage their national associations to do the same, if they have not done so already.
Ola Stafseng forwarded a proposal to designate Session 1.1 (The social and cultural construction of youth) as the Fred Mahler memorial session, with the content of the session accordingly focused on the themes for which he is known. After discussion: It is a good idea to designate the opening session in honour of a founding figure in youth sociology, but Mahler does not fit the session theme (although a paper on his contribution could fit well into Session 11 [Youth studies past, present and future]). It is suggested that the session could better be dedicated to the memory of Karl Mannheim. (Action: LAC to contact OS)
Planning the sessions
Lead and co-organisers should now begin to plan the content/direction and structure of their session more closely, with a view to actively inviting attractive presenters to propose an abstract. The ‘Walddorf Summit’ on 1+2 December 2001 will expect to look at draft plans for all the sessions. (Action: All session organisers!)
The process of accepting abstracts
Deadlines
The ISA has slightly changed some of the deadlines (look in your ISA booklet and/or on the ISA website for further details), but RC34 will stick to its deadline for receiving abstracts (15 December). This still allows time for session organisers to invite and accept additional presenters afterwards where appropriate, and to exchange potential presenters between the sessions according to the numbers and themes concerned.
Accepting abstracts
Lead organisers (after consultation with their co-organisers as appropriate) should not hesitate to suggest to individuals who have submitted an abstract for consideration that they would have a better chance of being accepted if they amend their abstract to fit the thematic focus of the session more closely. This would be helpful where the quality of an abstract looks promising, but the approach or content could be better focused to the session’s concept.
Lead organisers should ensure that they let individuals know as quickly as possible whether their abstract will be accepted or not. Abstracts should be acknowledged when they arrive, with an indication of how long it is likely to take to know whether an abstract is accepted or not. When lead organisers accept an abstract for their session, they should:
• Send as soon as possible a written confirmation (be Email, fax or by letter), signed by the lead organiser ‘on behalf of Lynne Chisholm, ISA RC34 President and Overall Programme Coordinator’. Copies of this acceptance note should be forwarded to:
– LAC (so she can keep track in case of problems and queries)
– ISA Congress Secretariat (so they know who has really been accepted)
In other words, LAC delegates abstract acceptance to those directly responsible for a session and trusts everyone to follow our agreed guidelines as outlined in earlier documents.
• Explain clearly the terms on which the abstract has been accepted. This means that acceptance of an abstract and its appearance on the session programme does NOT automatically mean that an individual will present his/her paper in the conventional manner. We have agreed to follow ISA guidelines: vary the format of sessions and ensure interest and quality. Lead organisers can and should accept as many abstracts as they wish – acceptance and inclusion in the printed programme is often the pre-condition for individuals to secure financial support to participate in the WC – but not all papers have to be presented in the usual way (see our earlier guidelines documents).
• Be aware that the ISA Congress Secretariat will publish all abstracts in the written form in which they arrive there. Many abstracts will require language editing. Session organisers should undertake minor editing before the abstract is sent on to the ISA, but are not responsible for cases in which the whole text needs decoding and rewriting. Here, session organisers should ask the individual involved to seek assistance locally first and re-submit. Obviously, we should give positive encouragement and assistance wherever we reasonably can – we must not discourage scholars on the grounds of language problems.
RC34 programme schedule
The Aylesbury Board meeting (March 2001) discussed a provisional schedule of sessions and their sequence through the week of the Congress. This will be revised at the Walddorf Summit in December 2001 and forwarded to all session organisers. Session organisers should let LAC know as soon as possible if they have other engagements at Brisbane that would make it difficult to have their session at a particular time during the week.
4. Picy Issues and Activity Plan
4.1 Events since March 2001
High Tatra Conference, Slovakia (May 2001)
Thanks to Ladislav Machacek for organising an interesting event in a beautiful region. RC34 hosted a small reception for the participants, which was very well received. The proceedings have been published with the support of the Slovak Ministry of Youth as:
Mládež, práca, budúcnost’ Európy, ed. Ladislav Machá?ek, Bratislava 2001 (ISBN 80-85447-11-8). Copies can be requested from Ladislav.
3rd Young youth researchers training seminar, EYC Budapest (Sep. 2001)
A resounding success, despite some unavoidable organisational hiccups. The tutor team this year was Lynne Chisholm, Carles Feixa, Gestur Gudmundsson, Sven Mørch and Howard Williamson (who did a marvellous job of taking over leading the seminar after LAC had to leave early).
Youth, Family + Intergenerational Relations, Milan (Sep. 2001)
CL and ST will prepare a longer report of this successful meeting to post on the IBYR website. The quality of papers was very good and high-level European policymakers also took part. Sincere congratulations and thanks to both CL and ST, together with the funders (Vienna European Observatory on Family Matters and the University of Milan-Bicocca’s Faculty of Social Sciences). Two edited collections are planned, and RC34 will appear as a co-sponsor of the meeting.
4.2 Forward planning
2nd RC34 Summer School, Latin America
The summer school itself is now planned for late autumn 2002 in Buenos Aires, in cooperation with the FLACSO research institute. A preparatory ‘Euro-Afro-Latin American’ workhop is envisaged for May 2002 in Barcelona. More details to follow.
Young youth researchers in Russia training seminar, Moscow
Lyudmila Nurse (LKN), in cooperation with LAC and our Russian partners, ROS and the Russian Youth Council, has prepared and sent in an application to funding to the Council of Europe/European Youth Foundation. Results to be posted later.
5. Publication projects
History of RC34 brochure
Due to professional and personal overload, LKN and ST have been unable to make much progress on this project since Aylesbury. We have, however, received texts on youth research in North America (Nancy Lesko) and in Canada (Madeleien Gauthier), and a text for Latin America is being prepared (Carles Feixa and a Colombian colleague). It was decided to use the Brisbane session to launch the brochure’s finalisation, since it is unlikely that the manuscript will be completed in time. The texts received can be presented verbally, and LKN/ST, with the assistance of Jürgen Hartmann, Ola Stafseng, and other ‘oldtimers’, can prepare an overview of some of the important milestones and their significance for future developments in international youth studies. (Action: LKN and ST)
Book project
HH and GH have prepared a first draft for the contents, and some Board members have already responded in writing. LAC will synthesis the comments and forward to HH and GH for revision. Ashgate may be interested in issuing a publishing contract.
6. Communications and Promotions
6.1 Membership benefits: Subscription offer: YOUNG
Board members are encouraged to take out their subscriptions so that we can claim the free subscriptions for scholars in non-Category A countries.
6.2 IBYR website
HH reported that it remains difficult to get people to write pieces for the website – we are all just too busy to respond quickly – but nevertheless, the site is beginning to work, and it is being consulted. HH will set up a ‘hits’ count so that we can see how popular we are!
CL will prepare a summary of the latest Italian youth survey results for IBYR.
6.3 Young Youth Researchers’ Essay Competition
Still awaits action by Jürgen Hartmann …
7. Finance and Membership
Given that neither CW nor LM could be present, this item was postponed until the next meeting.
8. Relations with other groups
Nothing to report this time.
9. AOB
No items raised this time.
10. Date and location of next meeting
Walddorf Summit 2001: 1 + 2 December (arrival Friday evening, 31 November, usual arrangements for travel, accommodation and nourishment).
RC34 Board Meeting, 22 September 2001, Milan, Italy Present: Board: LAC, HH, SK; Advisory Board: CL, ST