The history of ISA can be traced to the 1948 initiative of 

UNESCO's Social Science Department.

[2]
 The initiative was part of a larger plan aiming together to reform the social sciences worldwide, by
improving the ties between scholars worldwide "to promote research in fields crucial to
establishments of a peaceful world order".[2] As of 1949, sociological associations existed only in
Belgium, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, with about
twenty four more countries having sociologist represented in a different type of an institution.
[3]
 The Institut International de Sociologie (IIS), founded in 1893, was deemed too limited, and it was
decided that a new organization needs to be created. [2][4] In the end, representatives from 21
countries were invited for a Constituent Congress, held in Oslo on 5–11 September 1949.[3][5][6][7] The
original stated purpose of the organization was "to advance sociological knowledge throughout the
world" through measures including developing "personal contacts between sociologists" in different
regions and encouraging "international dissemination and exchange of information". [6] A provisional
Council was appointed, as were an Executive Secretary, Treasurer, and the Secretariat personnel;
statutes were adopted.[5] SA's first president was Louis Wirth.[8] The first ISA conference was planned
for 1950.[5]

Activities[edit]
In 1952 ISA begun publishing an academic journal, Current Sociology.[9] 1971 marked the
introduction of the official newsletter, the ISA Bulletin.[10] In 1986 ISA launched International
Sociology, a peer-reviewed journal published six times annually and provided to all members. [11]
[12]
 International Sociology also has a child publication, a bi-annual International Sociology Review of
Books.[13] Other ISA's publications include the book series Sage Studies in International Sociology
Books[14] and ISA Handbooks.[15] It also has published its own code of ethics.[16]
ISA organizes World Congress of Sociology and Forum of Sociology (every four years). In addition
ISA organizes a number of smaller, regional and thematic conferences. [11]

Organization[edit]
The statutes of ISA were first amended during the World Congress at Varna, and were subsequently
amended again in 1974 at Toronto, 1978 at Uppsala, 1982 at Mexico City, 1986 at New Delhi, 1994
at Bielefeld and 2010 at Gothenburg.[7]
At first, the governing body of ISA was the council of national representatives. [17] The council elected
the Executive Committee, which was composed of a President, three Vice-presidents, an Executive
Secretary, and six other members.[17] In 1970 ISA allowed general individual membership (previously
it focused on organizational membership).[18][19] Since then, ISA has both individual and collective
members.[7] Currently, the Council of National Associations is supplemented by the Research
Council, which is composed individual representatives of all Research Committees. [20] The two
Councils hold the Assembly of Councils at the Congresses every four years, electing the President
and other officials.[20]
Scientific activities of the ISA occur under the auspices of research committees that gather
sociologists interested in similar subfields or topics within sociology. [21] As of 1997 there were 59 such
groups with a total membership of 4442 individuals.[7][22][23] The two largest groups at that time were
Migration and Social Stratification.[22] As of July 2012, ISA webpages listed 55 Research Committees,
3 Working Groups and 5 Thematic Groups.[23] As of 1994, ISA had 45 national associations as its
members.[24] Currently its members come from 167 countries.[25]
The ISA Junior Sociologists Network (JSN) is a global network of students, early-career academics
and practitioners to share information and create collaborations. [26]
ISA offices have changed their location several times; since 1987 they are located are in Madrid,
Spain.[27] Although at its beginning, the ISA's budget consisted mainly of UNESCO funds, the modern
ISA budget is primarily (90%) composed of membership dues and sales of publications; only 10%
comes from grants of UNESCO/ISSC.[20]
The ISA is a member of the International Social Science Council with the status of the non-
governmental organization in formal associate relations with UNESCO and special consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[25][28]
The recognized languages of the ISA are English, French and Spanish; English is the organization's
administrative language.[7]

ISA World Congresses[edit]

Since 1962 the ISA World Congress has taken place every four years in a different location; before
that period, the Congresses were held every three years.[29][30] The programme of the association and
the number of participants at the congresses have grown rapidly since the first Congress met
in Zurich, Switzerland (1950) with about 150 participants; the 1994 congress in Bielefeld, Germany,
attracted 3,678 participants.[31]

ISA Forums[edit]
The idea of the Forum gathers and redefines the traditionally organized ISA Research Council
conference and the interim conferences of ISA Research Committees. It was an event with two kinds
of programs: a general program conceived as a dialogue between Research Committees and made
up of the papers presented by the RCs’ delegates to the Research Council conference, and the
parallel programs of the RCs organized by them. ISA Forums have been held
in Barcelona (2008), Buenos Aires (2012), and Vienna (2016).[32]