History

Brief History of the European Sociological Association

The idea of creating a European Sociological Association (ESA) dates back to 1987. After being legally established in 1994, the ESA was formally introduced to sociologists from all over Europe in 1995, during its second conference in Budapest. The ESA is a non-profit making association registered under French law since 2001. After a few years at SISWO in Amsterdam, the ESA office is located in Paris, where over the years it has had several host institutions. Since 2015, the ESA office operates from within the headquarters of the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH). In 2016, ESA restructured its headquarters operations. It took over further responsibilities in organising conferences. Since then, ESA engages two employees.

The European Sociological Association provides an international platform for European sociologists as well as sociologists worldwide. The ESA aims to facilitate sociological research, teaching and communication between sociologists and between sociologists and other scientists, and to give sociology a voice in European affairs. The ESA intends to cultivate an influence on the development of European academic life and the formation of the younger generation of sociologists. This is evidenced by the thriving activities of the ESA’s Research Networks, the ESA journals European Societies and European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology as well as the ESA conferences.

To this day, the ESA is made up of 37 Research Networks and over 2800 members. The ESA has held biennial conferences in various locations all over Europe: