Izabela Barlinska

In January 1987 a container with ISA files traveled from Amsterdam to Madrid and the ISA Secretariat started a new life. Soon after we had unpacked and installed ourselves, preparations began for the ISA XII World Congress of Sociology in Madrid. In those days the ISA had some 2,000 members (as compared to 6,000 today), the Congress program was typed on regular typewriters, and fax was the latest means of communication. It was then that José...

In the previous issue of Global Dialogue (2.5), we learned how a young Polish student was recruited to the ISA and how she became the indispensable organizing brain of the Association. In this second and final part of the interview, Dr. Barlinska tells us the story of the consolidation of the ISA into the powerful organization it is today.   MB: We left off the story with you in Amsterdam entertaining the famous...

Everyone in the ISA knows the name Izabela Barlinska – and she knows almost everyone! Efficient and creative, loyal and dedicated, soft-spoken but resolute, she has been associated with the ISA for some 35 years. Mistress of many languages, including English, French, Spanish, Russian and her native Polish, she occupies the hot seat in the ISA, directing operations from Madrid. Aided by her devoted assistants, Nacho and Juan, she deals...