Dear ISTP colleagues and friends,
The world is roaring and shaking and it is more important than ever that we “stop and think”, as Hannah Arendt so rightly formulated. In these conditions, our International Society for Theoretical psychology has a precious role to play – that of offering a frame, a time and a space to theorize – whether we prefer to do it calmly or with passion, alone or jointly, face-to-face or via diverse mediations. As a psychologist who has theorised dialogue, the vital role of imagination in individual and collective development, and the centrality of pleasure of thinking in the life course, I am particularly aware of the importance (and the strength, and the frailty) of such a frame. So here are a few occasions to theorise together.
First, a core moment in the life of our society is its biannual conference, where we can all meet in person and theorise together. After a memorable meeting in Belgrade – the first since the COVID pandemic – it is my great pleasure to announce that our next ISTP conference will take place at the Pratt Institute in New York (USA), June 7-12th 2026. Martin Dege will host the conference, and we are looking forward to it. Please save the date!
Second, let me inform you that the new ISTP webpage also has a page for ISTP news. If you have information you would like to share with ISTP members (job offers, meetings, new books, etc.) please write to Friederike Windel, our communication chair, whom I thank here, at communications@istpsychology.org.
Third, as you may know, a group of ISTP members have started a Seminar series to take place online, between the in-person meetings, ideally twice a year. The first took place in September 2024 and was organised by Floor von Alphen and Marie-Cecile Berteau, who we thank for this. We will send more information about the seminar series, but if you are already interested to organise such a meeting, ideally next spring, please contact Floor van Alphen floorvanalphen@icloud.com directly.
Last, much of our theorising work needs space and time to develop, and so the written form is often the first one to share a good idea. ISTP is attached to two journals: Theory and Psychology is the primary place for our work to be shared and diffused. Kieran O’Doherty has been acting as brilliant Chief Editor of the journal for almost a decade, and he has decided to step down; I wish to thank him on the behalf of all of us. The new Chief editor will be Thomas Teo – thank you, Thomas, to take on this important responsibility – we are sure that the journal will continue to thrive. The other publication of ISTP is IRTP, that publishes the papers of the last bi-annual conference. Please don’t forget to submit your papers if you haven’t done it yet! And let me also thank all the reviewers for both journals; this is a hidden yet central job in the development of our theoretical work.
With my best wishes for the end of 2024,
Tania Zittoun
President of ISTP