Crossing Boundaries, Erasing Margins and (re)Contouring Knowledge Production:

There is an increasing awareness and growing commitment among sociologists of the need to challenge traditional restrictions on knowledge construction, to bridge research and action, engage in collaborations, and help shape meaningful pedagogy, policy, and practice to address the social justice issues of our time. This paper will explore the role that a global association such as the international sociological association (ISA) can play in creating an intellectual and organizational space that fosters more equitable sociological knowledge production, exchange, dissemination, and action across the globe. Through an examination of ISAs history, structure, activities and processes, as well as data derived from the “case study” of RC 32, the paper considers the ways that ISA both reproduces but also challenges dominant hegemonic discourses and methodologies. The dynamics of privilege and disadvantage, the fault lines and transversal politics as well as the critical role that ISA can play in (re)contouring sociological knowledge production will be discussed. Special attention will be paid to the diverse pathways in the production of knowledge that the Association enables the public to access, and the influence the Association has exerted on public policies and institutional structures addressing solutions for a more just world.