The 36th World Congress of the International Institute of Sociology (IIS) opened in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People Wednesday. More than 1,000 representatives from 50 countries attended the opening ceremony.
The five-day congress revolves around the theme of Social Change in the Age of Globalization. Internationally renowned sociologists will give keynote speeches at plenary sessions. In addition, over 100 workshops will be conducted to address such issues as development strategies, urbanization, employment, population, income distribution, medicine and health, poverty relief, mass education, social security and environmental protection.
Among the participants are Chen Kuiyuan, president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS); Fan Boyuan, vice mayor of Beijing; Genevieve Domenach-Chich, deputy director of the UNESCO Beijing Office; and IIS President Eliezer Ben-Rafael.
At the opening ceremony, CASS Vice President Li Shenming described sociology as discipline of social sciences that is still young and vibrant. “Ever since its birth in the mid-19th century, sociology has focused on the themes of social order and social change. Its mission is to promote the progress of human society.”
Humans now share many new challenges, such as resource shortages, environmental deterioration, and expanding gaps and constant conflicts between regions. “The efforts to coordinate development of population, resources and environment, and economy and society can hardly generate instant results. Rather, they demand the collaborative effort of all humankind and the knowledge and contributions of sociologists as well,” Li said.
This is the second time that the IIS congress has been held in an Asian country, the first having been held in Kobe, Japan, in 1991.
Prof. Immanuel Wallerstein of Yale University was absent because of illness, but he sent a message to the congress. “The holding of the Congress of the IIS in Beijing is a historic step in the true internationalization of sociology and social science. Knowledge will not be mature until it is socially grounded everywhere in the world, and until there is true dialogue among practitioners
from everywhere. China is a very large part of our world, with a very long cultural tradition. But a zone that has been underrepresented in the world production of knowledge or at least in the awareness of the rest of the world of what it has produced. Let the Beijing Congress mark the end of this scholarly separation.”
Ninety-five-year-old Fei Hsiao-t’ung expressed his hope that the meeting will enhance cooperation and communication between Chinese and foreign sociologists.
The Beijing Manifesto of Social Development was issued at the opening event. The manifesto declares the organization’s stance on the establishment of a new international system of peace, justice, interdependence and joint development. It addresses the issues of balanced and equitable economic growth and social development among diverse cultures in an era of globalization, and harmonious, sustainable national and regional development.
It appeals to all countries, governments, international organizations, enterprises, NGOs and people from all walks of life to make an effort to establish a new international system of peace, justice, interdependence and joint development.
(China.org.cn by Chen Qiuping, July 7, 2004)
