Message from Geoffrey Pleyers, VP-Research of the International Sociological Association

This IV ISA Forum will be the opportunity for our community to pay tribute to three of our most distinguished colleagues in three special panels. Immanuel Wallerstein was not only a major global social scientist and a global citizen committed to social justice. He presided over the ISA between 1992 and 1996, leaving a considerable legacy. Erik Olin Wright will notably be remembered for shedding light on “real utopias” that embody the hope of fairer and more human times. Marielle Franco, a Brazilian sociologist who was murdered on March 14th 2018, has become a global symbol of a struggle against racist, colonial, hetero-patriarchal domination and police violence and for social justice, human rights and democracy. Her life as a black woman from the favelas shows that intersectionality is not only a theoretical concept. She also exemplifies the importance of enlarging the access to studies in sociology to women and men from less privileged backgrounds, beyond the gender, race and social barriers.

These sessions in tribute to Erik Olin Wright (24 February 2021, 17:45 time of Brazil, 20:45 UTC), Immanuel Wallerstein (25 Feb. 12:30 in Brazil, 15:30 UTC) and Marielle Franco (25 Feb. 17:45 in Brazil, 20:45 UTC) will be livestreamed on the ISA Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/InternationalSociologicalAssociation/live/