Last spring I mailed a message to both the CYBCOM and the PRNCYB-L list,
asking if any of you would be interested to join the Thematic Group on
Sociocybernetics and Social Systems (TG02 for short) of the ISA
(International Sociological Association). This resulted in quite a few new
members. Membership is free of charge, though you are formally expected to
join the ISA as an individual member. This would cost you $ 200 per four
years, and is certainly worth while if you plan to attend the next World
Congress of Sociology, July 1998 in Montreal, where you get a considerable
reduction on the registration fee, while you also receive a regular Bulletin.
However, this formal requirement is not enforced.
Since the membership of both the above lists may have changed considerably
in the meantime, I am sending a similar message now again. The difference
with last spring is that our at that time still tentative plans are being
materialized now:
1) We have just published our first Newsletter, which I am sending you as a
separate ASCII-file, hoping you will have no trouble reading it;
2) As you can see in that Newsletter, we have organized a Sociocybernetics
Section at the forthcoming 10th International Congress of Systems and
Cybernetics, August 26-31, 1996 in Bucharest. If you want to actively
participate in that congress and deliver a paper there, please note the
February 1 deadline for abstracts and abridged papers; both can be e-
mailed to me at "geyer@SISWO.UVA.NL".
It should be clear from our name that our focus is on innovative
applications of first- and second-order cybernetics as well as General
Systems Theory to the social sciences, broadly conceived. If you are
interested to join TG02 - irrespective of whether or not you want to
attend the Bucharest congress - please fill out and return BOTH the
membership form and the questionnaire, sent to you as a separate file (A:\4,
entitled "Membership form and questionnaire, TG02". You will then be put on
our mailing list for future issues of our Newsletter.
Looking forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience, with
still my best wishes for a happy and productive New Year,
Felix Geyer
Secretary TG02, ISA