The International Gramsci Society held its second international conference in Rio de Janeiro between the 19th and 21st September 2001. In spite of the disruptions in air travel caused by the horrendous events of September 11th, participants from as far away as Japan, as well as from the U.S. and various parts of Europe were able to join the large contingent of participants from Brazil and several other Latin American countries for four days of lively debate and intense conversation on diverse aspects of Gramsci's work and on the current state of Gramscian studies in different parts of the world.
The conference was hosted by the Escola de Servico Social of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The complex logistical arrangements were handled by Andrea de Paula Texeira and the program was planned by Carlos Nelson Coutinho. To them and to many others who generously volunteered their time and energy to help with the organization of the conference, the IGS owes an enormous debt of gratitude.
In Brazil, the presence of Gramsci is very pronounced in the fields of social studies, the theory of education, and political science. The success enjoyed by Carlos Nelson Coutinho's recent multi-volume edition of the Quaderni is just one indication of the widespread interest in Gramsci in that country. The large number of academics, school teachers, and university students who attended the conference and participated in the discussions provided further confirmation of the liveliness of Gramscian studies in Brazil.
A session of the conference was devoted to a discussion of the organizational structure of the International Gramsci Society. A decision was made to establish a co-ordinating group representing various geo-cultural areas that would collaborate with the secretary to gather and disseminate information of interest to IGS members. The members of the group are: Giorgio Baratta (Italy), Daniel Campione (Argentina), Carlos Nelson Coutinho (Brazil), Francisco Fernández Buey (Spain), Luiz Sérgio Henriques (Brazil), Dora Kanoussi (Mexico), Sabine Kebir (Germany), Jeremy Lester (United Kingdom), Guido Liguori (Italy), Hiroshi Matsuda (Japan), Koichi Ohara (Japan), and Gh. Lencan Stoica (Romania). Joseph A. Buttigieg continues to serve as secretary. Meanwhile, an effort needs to be made to identify individuals from other parts of the world, especially from India and the African continent, who would help the IGS to further extend its contacts.
In the next few months, the IGS will revamp its website and will be exploring ways to facilitate communication among its members via electronic means. Plans are being made to "publish" the IGS Newsletter electronically in order to make information more readily accessible and to avoid the dealys associated with traditional methods of publication.