Articles of Association for the International Society for the Study of New Religions
Adopted 13 August 2009
§ 1
The name of the Society shall be the International Society for the Study of New Religions (ISSNR). ISSNR is a non-profit scholarly association, incorporated under Swedish law.
§ 2
The goal of the ISSNR is to promote interdisciplinary research on new religiosity, such as new religious movements and new expressions of established religions. This objective could be implemented, through, inter alia:
Management of an academic journal on New Religions
Supervision of a scholarly book series on New Religions
Provision of information to the public, media, authorities and other public bodies
Collection of materials related to new religiosity
Sponsorship of multidisciplinary research projects and conferences
Cooperation with other scholarly organizations
§ 3
The Society shall have its headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden.
§ 4
Full members of the Society shall be doctoral-level researchers in religion or social science, or having some other relevant academic background. The applicant for full membership in the Society must demonstrate that s/he meets one or more of these requirements.
Student Members shall be any level students in appropriate disciplines.
Associate Members are individuals who do not qualify for full or student membership, but who are interested in participating in the Society’s work.
Application for admission as a member must be made in writing or by email to the Board. The Board shall decide on an application within two months. The Board shall inform an applicant in writing or by email whether an application has been accepted or not. Membership shall start from receipt of membership dues following the date of the notification.
The Board may expel a member if a member acts contrary to the articles, rules or resolutions of the Society, or if a member damages the Society in an unreasonable manner. In the event of such an expulsion, the member in question shall be informed of his or her expulsion as soon as possible in writing or by email, with a statement of the reasons for expulsion. During a period of one month after receipt of such a letter, the person concerned may appeal to the next biennial meeting. This appeal must be made by a registered letter directed to the Board.
Members shall pay an annual membership. The membership fee shall be set by the Board for each kind of member separately and shall be confirmed at the next meeting of the general membership. Members who join during the first half of a calendar year shall pay the whole fee. Members who join during the second half of a calendar year shall pay half of the fee.
The membership fee shall be applied, first, to the costs of the administration of the Society and, secondly, to its scholarly activities, including funds for annual conferences, to the extent that those costs cannot be covered from conference income or from other sources. To participate in the Society, members are required to be current with their membership dues.
§ 5
The Society shall be governed by the Board. The Society”s Board of Directors shall consist of seven members, one President, one Vice President, one Secretary, one Treasurer and three other Members. All members of the Board must be full members in good standing. Board members shall be elected for a period of two years. Only Board members – or other Society members appointed by the Board as spokespeople – are entitled to speak on the society’s behalf.
The Society’s President or Treasurer are authorized signatories.
The Board shall meet in person or electronically at least once per year, and minutes shall be kept. A quorum of four Board members is required to vote on issues.
The Board may appoint members of working groups, including for example:
1) An editorial group/board to work on the Society’s journal. This work shall be led by two Co-Editors, and a Review Editor. These editors shall be appointed for two-year terms.
2) An editorial group/board to work on the Society’s book series. This work shall be led by two Co-Editors. These editors shall be appointed for two-year terms.
3) A conference committee
4) One or more project groups for the research projects conducted by the Society.
Members of working groups may be full, student, or associate members of the Society.
The Board may allocate other specific tasks to Society members – full, student, or associate members – as may be deemed expedient for accomplishing the goals of the Society.
The Board shall also be empowered to appoint employees who are not members of the Society in order to assist it in its administrative and other work. The Board may grant such employees remuneration.
§ 6
Biennial conferences shall be held every other year.
At these meetings, the following shall occur:
Election of a chairman and secretary of the meeting
Choice of adjustment person
Operational Report
Audit Report
The discharge of the Board
Election of Board Members
Choice of auditor and a deputy auditor
Election of a nomination committee
Determination of membership
Draft budget
Notice of the biennial meeting shall be made to full members at least three months before the meeting. The notice shall be attached to a draft agenda, nomination proposals and, where appropriate, draft statutes.
The adjusted meeting minutes shall be sent to all persons who have been elected at the biennial meeting within one month after the meeting. Location of the next biennial meeting will be determined by the Board.
The right to vote at the biennial meeting is restricted to full members. Other members have the right to speak at the meeting but have no voting rights.
§ 7
Full members and other members may submit motions to the biennial meeting. These motions shall be sent to the Board no later than January 31 of the year in which the biennial meeting is held.
§ 8
Nomination of Board Directors and Auditors should be made by a nominating committee consisting of three persons appointed at the prior biennial meeting. The Nomination Committee’s nomination proposal shall be sent to the Board no later than January 31.
§ 9
Full Members who are absent at the biennial meeting are entitled to submit written votes and thus participate in the election of Board members and decisions on statutes.
§ 10
Extra meetings may be convened by the Board in the event of resignation of directors, or by a proposal from the Board on a statute or at other times as the Board has grounds for calling a special meeting. Extra meetings shall not take place earlier than three weeks after the declaration.
§ 11
Amendment of these articles may be made at the Society’s biennial meeting, provided that the proposal is submitted to the Board no later than January 31 before the regular biennial meeting or at least four weeks before an extraordinary meeting. Amendments require a two-thirds majority.
§ 12
The Board of Directors may adopt resolutions that clarify, extend, or supplement these articles by a majority vote at a regular meeting, by mail, by fax, or by email.
§ 13
The Society may be dissolved by a decision of the Board at a regular biennial meeting and a subsequent extraordinary meeting. Dissolution requires a two-thirds majority vote at the regular meeting and a two-thirds vote at the extra meeting. A decision regarding the disposition of the Society’s assets shall be made at the extraordinary annual meeting.
Gothenburg, 10 August 2009
