Resolutions of the General Assembly of CIPSH, Paris, 2014.10.15

Resolutions of the General Assembly of CIPSH
Paris
UNESCO
14th-15th, October 2014

The General Assembly of the International Council of Philosophy and Human Sciences met the 14th and 15th October in Paris, at UNESCO.

Council had an in-depth discussion concerning the current state of international research and the need to re-think the scope and role of human sciences in contemporary society, based on the efforts undertook after the last General Assembly held in Nagoya, in 2010.

The need for such an agenda is twofold. On one hand, there has been no global re-thinking on the role and scope of humanities following the major global changes that were accelerated in the past few decades. On the other hand, there is a growing need to re-introduce in the daily agenda of society a mid and long term perspective, that is required in face on the future uncertainty and which finds no answer within the limits of a purely immediate problem-solving approach.

Indeed, the humanities provide unique skills and resources for individuals and societies to meet the growing need for sustainable living, civilized democracy, and peaceful coexistence. Empowered by historical knowledge, critical thinking, and nuanced analysis of human ideas, values, and imagination, the human sciences provide understanding of the new salience of cultural capital in our contemporary world. Humanistic thinking offers a broader, deeper and more creative perspective than conventional problem-solving approaches to societal challenges. It contends that human flourishing can only be realized through renewed awareness of the human condition—past, present, and future–in relation to other sentient beings, our natural environment, and scientific and technological developments. Moreover, the humanities emphasize the potential of artistic expression to provide meaning in increasingly diverse societies.

It is within this framework that the General Assembly of CIPSH approved the following main resolutions:

1. Major energies will be devoted to the World Conference on Human Sciences to be organized by CIPSH with the collaboration of UNESCO an in Liège, in 2017, and with the support of a local organizing committee. For its preparation, a first public call, signed by a large number of scholars from all disciplines, and not only human sciences, will be presented on the occasion of CIPSH 66th anniversary, in January 2015. The conference will be a major project resuming the collaboration with UNESCO.
2. While the conference should set a new framework for the human sciences within the framework of scientific research as well as that of the arts, CIPSH must also envisage to study and report on the monitoring of cultural responses to local and global challenges, this being a task that will help in bridging gaps among human groups and building a strategy for the understanding of cultural differences and the capacity to imagine different avenues as a unique human strength, paving the way for peace, global sustainability, intercultural understanding and appreciation, as well as for improved quality of life. Preparing regular global reports in this direction (as done by the International Social Science Council every three years)_should become a second major project to undertake with UNESCO.
3. CIPSH esteems that a widespread decrease of attention to the humanities, whether manifested in educational curricula or funding support, diminishes the potential of societies to build mid and long term agendas that can offer sustainable, peaceful and enlightened futures to human communities. In this respect, CIPSH confirms its full endorsement of all initiatives that will counter this trend.
4. A better future for humankind requires a mid and long term web of convergent visions, that needs to engage people and, hence, to be rooted in daily needs and perceptions. In this context, CIPSH confirms its full commitment to the proposal to organize an International Year of Global Understanding, which has already been endorsed by UNESCO and is currently being discussed at the United Nations.
5. CIPSH recognizes the need to adapt itself to changing contexts. In this sense, the new board will have the following immediate major responsibilities:
   1. Governance: the new board will act as a permanent governing body, linked through e-communication, with individual tasks to be assigned to its members. A website will be resumed and a new communication procedure to speed up information among member organizations will be established.
   2. Special task-forces will be constituted to propose to an extraordinary General Assembly, within one year:
      1. A strategic approach to outreach, including the future of the CIPSH journal, Diogenes;
      2. A new framework of scientific collaboration with the International Social Science Council (ISSC), the International Council for Science (ICSU) and other scholarly institutions;
      3. An overview of financial difficulties and opportunities for a funding strategy;
      4. A revised version of the statutes, including statements of the mission and vision of CIPSH.
   3. A specific team will begin preparations for the World Conference in 2017, developing a detailed work plan and its implementation.
   4. An Extraordinary General Assembly will be organized within one year. This can be organized in parallel with a first scientific meeting/workshop/symposium for the preparation of the World Conference in 2017
6. When opening a new cycle in the already long existence of CIPSH, the General Assembly expressed its thanks to the Past President, Adama Samassekou, for having been able to secure its initial mandate objectives, despite all difficulties. It also expressed its thanks to the former Secretary General, Prof. Maurice Aymard, for his long dedication to CIPSH, and to the former Deputy Secretary-General, Dr.. Luca Scarantino, for his role in the council’s journal Diogenes. The council also expressed its thanks to the University and the Municipality of Liège for their proposal to host the First Conference on Human Sciences for a planet in transition; current challenges and responsibilities of Humanities in the XXIst century.
7. Approved in Paris, October 15th, 2014, at 12h36

Newly Elected Bureau of CIPSH

A new board of CIPSH was elected unanimously on October 15th, 2014, during the General Assembly meeting in Paris, at UNESCO. The new board is composed by:

• President: Chao Gejin
• Vice-President: Rosalind Hacket
• Vice-President: François Djindjian
• Secretary-General: Luiz Oosterbeek
• Treasurer: Franco Montanari
• Past President: Adama Samassekou
• Member: Meenakshi Bharat
• Member: Ulrich Grossman
• Member: Xiaochun Sun
• Member: Isenbike Togan
• Member: William L. McBride
• Member: Laurent Tissot