At the invitation of Professor Pierre Ducrey, ICHS Treasurer, the "Bureau restreint" held a meeting on Friday, February 21, and Saturday, February 22, at Crans-Montana (Valais), near Lausanne, for the purpose of reviewing ICSH operations between the regular Bureau meetings in Paris (August 2003) and Berlin (August 2004).
 
Present: Jürgen Kocka, President, Pierre Ducrey, Treasurer, Jean-Claude Robert, Secretary General.
 
Agenda
1. President’s remarks
2. ICHS operations
3. Treasurer’s financial report
4. ICHS/UNESCO relations
5. 2005 Congress
6. Nominating Committee
7. Other projects
 
1. Opening statements
 
The President opened the meeting by thanking the Treasurer for his hospitality and said that the main purpose of the meeting was to prepare the Sydney Congress. Two main concerns were raised: the continuing need to broaden the ICHS’s world view, and the need to devote further attention to the history of the ICHS. The President also urged the ICHS to advocate a more inclusive approach to history, in the sense of a “global history” approach.

2. ICHS operations

Bulletin No. 29 (2003) and Web page
Some minor changes were made to the Bulletin: the statutes are now found at the end of the first section. Seven hundred copies were printed, as was the case last year, and the issues were mailed out on December 12. This edition contains a reprint of an article on the Committee’s first 50 years, originally published in the 10th edition (1974-1976) by Michel François, ICHS Secretary General from 1950 to 1980. The ICHS Web site is partially updated: new names have been added to the list of organizers and discussants. The site should be updated entirely by the end of March.

Meetings
At the invitation of the German National Committee, the next Bureau meeting will be held in Berlin on August 27 and 28, 2004. A symposium on the evolution of German historiography will be held at that time, and members will be taken on an excursion. The final details will be announced shortly. The "Bureau restreint" will hold a brief preparation meeting on August 26.

National Committees / International Affiliated Organizations / Internal Commissions
There is very little movement to report. The Tunisian National Committee has asked for reactivation, and given that their request conforms to the conditions outlined in the statutes, the Secretary General motioned that the Committee be recognized. Furthermore, the International Numismatic Commission wishes to withdraw. The Secretary General has written to them for further explanations. Lastly, two Internal Commissions are projected, one for Latin America and one for the Arab World; these are at the stage of preliminary discussions.

ICHS Secretariat
The Secretary General keeps ICHS archives only for the current quinquennium. The rest of the archives are kept in two main repositories: the National Archives of France in Paris, and the Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire of Lausanne, Vaud, in Switzerland. However, it has come to light that the latter has been housing much more than the Treasurer’s archives. In his 1976 article, commenting on the ICHS’s pre-1945 archives, Michel François mentioned that these documents had disappeared. Ms. Agnes Blänsdorf, bibliographical researcher for the first edition of Karl Dietrich Erdmann’s history of the ICHS, has remembered that some documents were stored in Switzerland, and now the documents have been traced. The next edition of the Bulletin will update readers on this story and give a summary list of the documents in both locations.

In the past, the previous Secretary General, François Bédarida, has described how heavy his tasks were. Given the ICHS’s increased activities since 1990, the work has outpaced the resources available. For example, in 2003, three regional conferences were organized under the aegis of the Joint ICHS-UNESCO Committee, and were largely under the responsibility of the Secretary General, who has been under a tremendous amount of pressure. The ICHS would need to provide additional funds for hiring an assistant for a period of at least one or two years during each quinquennium, and more specifically, during the period between the selection of session organizers and discussants for the Congress and the publication of the final program.

Given the difficulty of increasing membership dues, the members of the Bureau restreint suggested ways to rein in expenses and reallocate resources:

Amendments to the statutes
When the Bureau met in Paris in 2003, a motion was made to amend the first article of the statutes in order to clarify the meaning of the last sentence.

Currently the text reads as follows:

“Il défend la liberté de pensée et d'expression dans le domaine de la recherche historique et veille au respect de la déontologie professionnelle de ses membres.”

“It shall defend freedom of thought and expression in the field of historical research and ensure the respect of professional ethical standards among its members.”

The proposed amendment reads as follows:

“Il défend la liberté de pensée et d'expression dans le domaine de la recherche historique et de l'enseignement; il s'oppose à l'usage abusif de l'histoire par les gouvernements et autres institutions et par tous les moyens à sa disposition, veille au respect de la déontologie professionnelle de ses membres.”

“It shall defend freedom of thought and expression in the field of historical research and teaching, oppose the abuse of history by governments and other institutions, and in all appropriate ways ensure the respect of professional ethical standards among its members.”

The advantage of the new wording is that it spells out the ICHS’s attitude towards the use of history for political ends.

3. Treasurer’s Report

The ICHS ended its 2003 operating period with inflows of CHF 53,209.40 and expenses of CHF 64,306.80, resulting in a negative balance of CHF10,827.40. The figures include a budget of CHF 15,000 to fund the General Assembly and the Sydney Congress in 2005.

Membership dues have been somewhat late in arriving in comparison with 2002 (41,183.80 in 2003 vs. 46,624.40 in 2002). Operating costs have remained stable overall.

The balance as at December 31, 2003, was CHF 144,659.09, a slight increase over the previous year’s balance (CHF 140,136.49).

The ICHS’s financial position may be considered stable.

The 2003 accounts have not been audited. They are managed by the financial department of the Université de Lausanne and audited only in conjunction with the occurrence of a General Assembly.

The Treasurer presented a selection of the accounts, including the ICHS’s accounts with the UBS Lausanne.

4. ICHS-UNESCO relations

The ICHS has been very active in this regard, and despite the fact that the Joint Committee meets only once a year, the various projects proposed have all been carried out.

4.1 Regional conferences: Lublin, Mexico City, Rabat
LUBLIN: The first conference was held in Lublin, Poland, on November 14 and 15, 2003, on the theme of “Central Europe in the European space between the East and the West during the 1000-2000 millennium.” There were approximately 30 presentations on related topics. The meeting was organized by the Institute of East Central Europe and held at the Hotel Unia Lublin. The first day’s debates were held in Polish, and the second day’s, in French and English. The Secretary General spoke during the closing session.

MEXICO CITY: the second regional conference was held at El Colegio de México from November 26-28, 2003, under the theme “Los caminos de la democracia en América Latina: revision y balance de la 'nueva historia politica'.” About 30 Latin American historians discussed various aspects of the theme and the current evolution of Latin American historiography. Attendance stood at about 60 participants, including students from the university. This conference was organized by Jose Luis Peset, Bureau member, and Guillermo Palacios of the Colegio de México. The Secretary General took part in each session and addressed the assembly during the opening and closing sessions.

RABAT: The third regional conference was held in Rabat from December 11 to 13, 2003, under the theme “Reforms and changes in the Arab Muslim world.” More than a dozen historians from eight Arab nations were in attendance. The conference was held at the Université Mohammed V, with the support of the Association marocaine pour la recherche historique. The conference greatly benefited from the skills of Chantal Chanson-Jabeur of the SEDET laboratory of the Université de Paris-7-Denis-Direrot. Discussions focussed on four previously identified themes: “Regional space, territories and mobility,” “Reforms, institutions, State,” “Education, culture, religion,” and “Cities and urbanization.” The Secretary General attended each session, and spoke at the opening session to introduce the ICHS and its core mission. The sessions were attended by many students.

The regional conferences fulfilled their goals and explored the various themes while enhancing awareness of the need to establish networks of historians and fostering a comparative approach in history. For the ICHS, the conferences are productive in acquainting others with our initiatives and goals.

4.2 Joint Committee: report of the meeting of November 16, 2003
The Joint Committee held its annual meeting in Lublin on November 16, 2003. The ICHS was represented by Professor Jerzy Kloczowski, Chairman of the Joint Committee, Professor Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch, and the Secretary General. UNESCO was represented by Jérôme Bindé, Deputy Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences. Ms. Iwona Goral of the Institute of East Central Europe acted as secretary, and Hubert Laszkiewicz, Assistant Director of the Institute, attended as an observer.

Given that the Joint Committee has changed sectors at UNESCO, passing from the Culture sector to Social and Human Sciences as of January 1, 2004, Jérôme Bindé presented the SHS’s main objectives and reviewed the goals of the Joint Committee.

The projects presented for the 2004-2005 biennium are mostly tied to the organization of workshops for the Sydney Congress, during which the outcome of the various 2002-2003 regional conferences will be discussed. Africa, Latin America, Eastern Central Europe and the Arab Muslim countries will be the topics of workshop sessions. The Committee also formally noted that workshops might be planned for the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. The Joint Committee’s budget must also provide for the publication of the proceedings of the Bamako conference (1999) and the annual meetings in 2004 and 2005. Mr. Bindé spoke of a possible subsidy under the “Dialogue among Civilizations” program, which has a separate budget. The Committee agreed to submit a request to that program.

5. 2005 Congress

The Bureau restreint turned its attention to the program of the Sydney Congress. A few problems remain in regard to the major themes. One difficulty in particular was that the Bureau sub-committee approved not only the major themes but also defined three sub-themes for each. This has created a problem with the organizers, who were under the impression that one sub-theme would be considered like a specialized theme requiring a half-day session. This would be impossible to do unless the session is spread out over a two-day period. For the next Congress, the organizers of the main themes should be given the responsibility of dividing their themes into sub-themes if they wish, provided that the sub-themes fall within the general parameters of the theme.

In general, most of the organizers are proceeding well, but one resigned, and a few asked to change roles or continue to be difficult to reach.

The opening session is taking shape. Details will follow sometime this year.

6. Nominating Committee

The members of the Nominating Committee were advised in January to be in Berlin for the dates announced. All members have replied except one. A preliminary dossier will be sent to Committee members in May of 2004.

7. Other projects

Beijing Conference
The conference in Beijing is almost fully organized. It will be held from April 7 to 9 under the theme “The course of modernization in the countries and regions of East Asia.” The conference was organized by the ICHS in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. The ICHS is grateful for the Academy’s collaboration.

Translation of Karl Dietrich Erdmann’s book
Wolfgang Mommsen’s translation and final chapter are now complete. The President will review the manuscript one last time and we expect the book to be launched at the Sydney Congress.