The Bureau restreint met on Wednesday, February 26, 2003, at the School of History, University of New South Wales. The purpose of the meeting was to review ICHS operations and activities between the regular meetings of Amsterdam (August 2002) and Paris (August 2003).

 Present: Jürgen Kocka, President, Pierre Ducrey, Treasurer, Jean-Claude Robert, Secretary General.
 
Agenda

1. ICHS operations
2. Treasurer's financial report
3. ICHS/UNESCO relations
4. The Bureau's 2003-2004 work plan
5. 2005 Congress
 
1. ICHS operations / Information
 
Bulletin No. 28 (2002)

The Bulletin was printed at the end of November and mailed out on December 9. By mid-January most parties had received the publication. The format has changed somewhat. In view of the decision to send out fewer copies to the National Committees (5) and to Affiliated International Organizations (5), the print run was reduced to 700 copies (Internal Commissions receive one copy). In the future, the Secretariat will try to mail the Bulletin in November if possible.

Web site

The content of the ICHS web site has been updated, and from now on the site will be updated regularly. The configuration of the site has changed slightly; for example, the Presentation section leads to the history of the ICHS, but no longer to the statutes. The themes of the Sydney Congress are now posted on the web site, as are the minutes and the editorial. A necrology section has been added.

There is now a direct e-mail address for users who wish to contact the Secretariat: cish@uqam.ca, as well as a direct e-mail address for e-mailing the treasurer: cish@unil.ch.

There are hyperlinks to the web sites of the National Committees and the Affiliated International Organizations. Hyperlinks back to the ICHS have all been checked and work except for 5 National Committee websites, but the situation will be corrected shortly.

The link to the Sydney Congress is ready but will not become operational until October 2003.

Meetings

To help prepare for the Bureau meeting in Paris on August 30-31, 2003, the Secretary General was in Paris in December 2002, where he met with Professor Jean-François Sirinelli, President of the French Committee. Because offices in Paris will be closed for the summer holidays, the location of the meeting is still uncertain. For this reason, the French Committee is unsure that it can organize a small symposium, but nonetheless finds the idea interesting.

Follow-up of previous meetings

History research in India is still difficult. After discussions with a number of colleagues, the Secretary General has agreed that the ICHS has to proceed with caution to avoid doing more harm than good. It will be important to allocate some funds to help Indian colleagues attend the Sydney Congress.

Members: National Committees, Affiliated International Organizations and Internal Commissions

Getting back to Professor Brunello Vigezzi’s suggestion to get the NCs and the AIOs to work together better, the Secretary General admitted that he was having some difficulties because contacts are not efficient with all members. It may be appropriate to put the issue on the agenda of the next Bureau. However, attempts will be made to better integrate the sessions of the Organizations and the Commissions into the general program of the Sydney Congress.

2. Treasurer's financial report

The Treasurer presented the following documents:

After examining the documents, the Bureau restreint asked the Treasurer to thank the Financial department of the Université de Lausanne for the quality of their work, and to thank the Treasurer’s collaborator for the way she monitors the ICHS’s files. The Bureau took an in-depth look at the February 7, 2003 letter from Pierre Wyss and approved the general points of the letter, but with one amendment: that the amounts are not sent directly to J.-C. Robert, but to the Université du Québec à Montréal, to the attention of the Secretary General of the ICHS. It should be noted that the Université du Québec à Montréal, which manages the finances of the Secretariat, requires that original accounting documents be kept for any expenses.

The Bureau restreint approved the following:

3. ICHS/UNESCO relations

Joint Committee

The Joint Committee held its most recent regular meeting on December 10, 2002, at UNESCO’s head office in Place Fontenoy, Paris. Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch and Jean-Claude Robert represented the ICHS at the meeting. Professor Jerzy Kloczowski is still chairing the Committee. UNESCO was represented by Mrs. Katérina Stenou, Director of the Division of Cultural Policy and Intercultural Dialogue, Mr. Bocar Dia, Coordinator of General and Regional History Projects, Mr. Mohamed Ziadah, Program Specialist and Publication Coordinator for Aspects of Islamic Culture, and Mrs. Isabelle Tarnowska, Secretary of the Joint Committee. Mrs. Paulette Forest took notes and wrote the minutes.

First, the Committee reviewed the activities planned for the end of the current biennium (2002-2003). On the subject of Africa: the Bureau of the Association of African Historians held a meeting in Bamako in March 2002, and the proceedings of the 1999 symposium of African historians are in the final stages of preparation prior to publication. On the subject of Latin America and the Caribbean: the conference to be held in Mexico City in November 2003 (Democracy in America) is on track and should be held as planned. However, the Association of Caribbean historians has not contacted us with respect to holding a limited regional conference in 2003. The Kingston regional office of UNESCO is responsible for contacting the President of the association. On the subject of Arab nations: Jean-Claude Robert submitted a plan for a conference on the theme of reform and changes in the Muslim Arabic world. The Moroccan National Committee has agreed to lend logistical support for holding the conference in Rabat from October 9 to 11, 2003. Lastly, on the subject of Central-Eastern Europe, a conference on people and cultures of Europe and Central-Eastern Europe is planned for November 2003, in Lublin.

The discussion turned to the 2004-2005 biennium. The ICHS Secretary General underscored the importance of ensuring that the 2005 Sydney Congress is well attended. It was stated that for every regional meeting held so far, a workshop would be organized at the Congress to allow for wider dissemination of the results. For Africa, the project involves an additional Bureau meeting in Addis Ababa in 2004, and a further workshop in Sydney; for Latin America, the Caribbean and the Arab nations, three workshops in Sydney in 2005. For Central-Eastern Europe, the project consists in two preparation seminars and a workshop in Sydney in 2005 on the theme of Central Europe in the European space between the West and the East during the 1000-2000 millennium. Lastly, the idea of organizing a regional meeting in Asia was floated. All the projects approved by the joint Committee for 2004-2005 largely exceed the budget for the previous biennium. It will be important to adjust the projects to the funds UNESCO will be actually allocating. The Committee will therefore return to these issues during its statutory meeting in 2003. The question of UNESCO’s formal recognition of the Joint Committee was also addressed.

ICPHS

The International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies held its regular meeting in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, from September 18-21, 2002. The meeting was preceded by a symposium on rationalities. The ICPHS’s activities are unfolding as planned, but the recurring problem of securing financing from UNESCO may become a concern in time. In reality UNESCO is reducing its overall funding to the ICPHS because the unavoidable costs of publishing Diogène magazine is putting a serious strain on the budget. In view of the situation, the subsidies the ICPHS was paying out to member organizations, including the ICHS, may be in jeopardy. The Secretary General has nonetheless prepared and submitted a funding request for the Sydney Congress (US$10,000 to cover travel expenses for colleagues from developing nations). In addition, the Secretary General has been elected to the budget committee. The ICPHS General Assembly has approved the subsidy request, but the final amount must be reviewed in light of the overall budget the ICPHS obtained for 2004.

4. The Bureau's work plan

Meetings in 2004

The Bureau will convene in Berlin in 2004. The Nominating Committee elected in Amsterdam in 2002 will also meet at that time. The Committee is composed of seven members, including three from the Bureau (Jürgen Kocka, Eva Österberg and Jean-Claude Robert). The other members are Cha Ha Soon (Korea), Janet L. Nelson (Great Britain), Anna Maria Rao (International Commission on the History of the French Revolution) and Marcel van der Linden (International Social History Commission). The tentative dates are August 27 and 29 for the Bureau, and August 30 for the Nominating Committee. Bureau members should plan to arrive in Berlin on Thursday, August 26, and leave on the 30th or the 31st.

Other projects

No item was brought up.

7. Visit of Congress venue

On February 27, the members of the Bureau restreint held a joint meeting with the Australian organizing committee. After brief presentations were made, an update was given on the preparations for the Congress, the problems on the horizon, and the issues to monitor.

After the meeting, the members of the Bureau restreint took a guided tour of the main facilities that will be at the disposal of the Congress in 2005. A sample of the classrooms and amphitheatres for the General Assembly and the opening session was examined, as were the registration areas. The members of the Bureau restreint were favorably impressed by the meeting and the tour.

8. Symposium on aspects of Australian history

On the afternoon of February 28, 2003, the Australian Organizing Committee prepared a symposium for young historians. Three papers were presented: