Welcome everyone: 2012 Conference review and 2013 plans

Dear Members and Friends:

We have now entered the second year of operation of the GSCIS and we thank all those who have contributed to the first year's success. Thank you as well to those who have paid up and joined the caucus. While we appreciate all our friends and associates, we have designated this new year to OUTREACH and RECRUITMENT so if you have not yet paid your dues for 2012-3 we ask you to please do so as soon as possible. The more members we have the more we can do within ISA and beyond. I will return to 2013 in a moment but first I would like to do a quick round-up of Conference 2012, San Diego.

2012 Conference:

The conference was a satisfactory one for us. We were able to have a presence on about six panels, including cooperative ventures with the very proactive Women's Caucus and the LBGT. Our central panels on cross-(ISA)sectional theorizing about the global south and on mentoring/publishing/teaching/research were very well received. (We are hoping to carry summaries of some of the presentations in our next newsletter.) We sponsored an excellent panel on emerging powers, and we consider it essential to continue our focus on these powers. As such, we welcome short commentaries from members on the role of these powers for our upcoming newsletters. We also held an Innovative Panel which brought together via Skype colleagues from Singapore, Nigeria, and Lebanon. (Unfortunately, our Latin American colleague, Andres Serbin, could not join us because of a medical emergency on that very morning; however, his paper is available from me and the conference site if anyone wishes to access it). The Innovative Panel's topic fit wiht the theme of San Diego: the role of civil society in the global south. Although we experienced some glitches during the presentation and would not necessarily use Skype for such a panel from here on in, the substantive presentations were very good and we certainly will not dismiss the idea of  virtual presentations as we go on. Two of the Power Point presentations from the panel are attached to this blog entry (below) while summaries of all the presentations will be carried in our next newsletter (summer). One thing we could have wished for was far better attendance at the Innovative Panel. We had very few people and so we will have to work more vigorously on that next time.

San Diego convention Presentation: Civil Society in Singapore & Malaysia
http://www.isanet.org/global_south_caucus/Civil%20Society%20in%20Singapore%20%26%20Malaysia%20Navigating%20between%20State-Approved%20and%20Independent%20Spaces.swf

San Diego convention Presentation: Civil Society, Social Media & the 2011 Elections in Nigeria
http://www.isanet.org/global_south_caucus/DandauraPowerPoint%20Presentation.swf

We were very pleased that the luncheon honoring our Inaugural Distinguished Scholar, Prof. Ali Mazrui, went off well.  Although the setting was less than ideal (at the back of one of the small auditoriums), the food and fellowship were eminently satisfactory and certainly Prof. Mazrui's speech was excellent. For those of you who could not attend, the speech will be carried in our next newsletter (summer).
(I hasten to add that both ISA headquarters as well as the Hilton Hotel staff were VERY helpful to us in dealing with the logistics of the Innovative Panel and the luncheon. I can't thank them enough!)  

We wish that more people were able to attend the Business Meeting. We are going to try not to schedule it after any other event (in this case, the luncheon) next year as we recognize that people want to attend panels after lunch. I would like to welcome aboard Prof. Seifudein Adem (Binghamton U) who has agreed to be our Treasurer, allowing Prof. Griffin to concentrate on the Secretary position. I should mention that Prof. Adem single handedly raised the rather hefty funds needed for our luncheon for Prof. Mazrui. I would also like to welcome Diana Elsada Cassells of the Graduate School of CUNY who will be our newsletter editor (assisting the Chair).
There are some matters which we will take to the membership shortly. One centers on some minor changes to the constitution which, as you know, was "temporarily" instituted last year after the caucus was approved by ISA's Governing Council. The second--this, because we did not have the quorum to hold  any elections at the Business Meeting and so will go directly to the membership--is a by-election for a couple of open positions on the EXCOM.  If anyone is interested in serving on the EXCOM as Asian, African or China representatives please let me know. These slots are now open. You must of course be a bona fide member of the caucus. Of course current representatives can be re-elected. 
Welcome also to Spike Peterson  who has been a great friend of the caucus this year and is now going to be a member of the Senior Caucus.  We are working on making the Senior Caucus play a more crucial role this year.  


Finally, please let us know if you wish to be contacted directly (not too often, we promise) via our listserv. To allow us to send you communications, you need to notify Secretary Clifford Griffin (clifford_griffin@ncsu.edu), cc'd to Chair, J. Braveboy-Wagner (jbraveboy-wagner@gc.cuny.edy) so that we have backup lists in two places.

2013:
Call for Papers San Francisco:
The call for papers for next year's conference has been sent out by Lisa Richey, the GSCIS program chair (richey@ruc.dk). The theme is The Politics of Diffusion: Global and Regional Dimensions, a very relevant theme for the GSCIS since we focus on emerging powers and many of us on what can be construed as alternative methods of diffusion, not to mention critiques of diffusion as it has normally occurred. The deadline for paper and panel proposals, made through the MyISA system, is June 1, 2012, very early! Inquiries to the program chairs should be directed to isa2013@isanet.org. The call for papers has been archived here .
The GSCIS has been allotted three panels, which, through cooperation with other sections, will probably mean six or seven slots. When you submit a panel or paper, you must list sections under which you wish you paper or panel to be considered. All bona fide members can offer panels and papers for GSCIS sponsorship. We urge you to list joint sponsorship rather than single sponsorship so that your panel or paper can be considered by several sections.
We are pleased to already be able to say that we are working with FPA on a Working Group proposal. For information on Working Groups see http://www.isanet.org/annual_convention/specialty.html#wg. We hope that you will participate fully in this group which will consider innovative thinking on foreign policy (assuming it is accepted). I will communicate further as this develops: watch this space!
In addition, VP Paulo Esteves is working on a joint panel for us with Latin American organizations. We look forward to developing that further.

Important: At this time, I invite you to submit names for our distinguished honoree next year. We must decide on this by June 1. This year we hope to honor someone from Latin America, Asia or the Middle East, inasmuch as we had an African honoree last year. Please send names and a bio directly to me at jbraveboy-wagner@gc.cuny.edu. The Executive Committee will then decide on the honoree.
As we enter this new year (by ISA standards) we are asking all members to promote the caucus to colleagues and friends. We want to have genuinely global membership. And again, if you are interested in working in any capacity on behalf of the caucus please let me know. It is important that we all transition to a new generation of activist ISA members !

Best,

JBW