Digital Platforms

ISA launched the Social Justice & Democratization Space (SJD) at the 2nd ISA Forum in 2012. This virtual open access resource, built in partnership with SAGE, is to increase the utilization of cyberspace for more equitable knowledge production, exchange, dissemination, and action by people across the globe. Based on its initial success, Vineeta Sinha, member of the ISA Executive Committee and founder of ISA eSymposium was appointed by the Executive Committee in 2013 as the Social Justice & Democratization Site Director and has been actively building this space (see below). As we approach the World Congress of Sociology, I encourage you to access, utilize and promote this collaborative space.

Margaret Abraham
ISA Vice-President, Research Council

Call for contributions

It gives me great pleasure to work with the SJD Space of the International Sociological Association initiated by ISA VP Research Margaret Abraham. This space is conceptualized as a digital ‘landing platform’ for ISA members. It is meant to be a dynamic and multifaceted portal that stores and disseminates a range of resources for a global community of sociologists, engaged in diverse practices ranging from policy work to activism to teaching and  research.

The SJD Space serves the needs of contemporary sociologists who are increasingly drawn to novel ways of thinking about sociological knowledge and different ways of communicating these. This space can simultaneously ‘hold’ archives and an inventory of current material. Its flexibility enables a focus beyond the initial specific focus on social justice and democratization which is anticipated. The ISA eSymposium (started in 2005 as e-Bulletin) has been integrated within the SJD space. The digital nature of this publication finds a good fit here and serves well its function of communication and being a repository of sociological knowledge.

I invite members of the ISA, Research Committees and National Associations to visit the SJD Space and participate actively in utilizing it and constituting it. All suggestions and feedback are welcome on how to better use the Space. SJD now also has presence on Facebook and this medium offers yet another form of connectivity and interaction to ISA members.

Thank you.

Vineeta Sinha
Director, ISA SJD Space