In this blog post, our publisher Barbara talks about what she is looking forward to at the IPSA 75th Anniversary Conference and looks back on her first IPSA Conference and the many moments that make these conferences special for her.
Taking part in international conferences and presenting our publications there, is one of our many marketing activities. We always look forward to introducing new releases to scholars with a particular interest in our fields. This is one of the more prominent reasons, why I am excited to pack my bags for the International Political Sciences Association’s (IPSA) 75th anniversary conference in Lisbon in September 2024.
Of course, another reason lies in getting in touch with (potential) authors. Those delegates at the IPSA conference interested in our publications are also potentially interested in publishing with us. Thus, it is vital that we be there in our role as editors, i.e., not trying to sell our books and journals (although we love doing that, too) but rather discussing the newest trends in political science and civic education and evaluating opportunities for pertinent publications.
This year’s IPSA conference entitled “Democratization and Autocratization”, ticks a lot of topical boxes and presents clues for publishable texts with a lot of interest globally. No continent that isn’t plagued with populists and extremists, challenges to democratic systems are no privilege of specific countries or world regions. Simple answers, or so it seems, are attractive, and fake news to support them are easy to spread thanks to ever evolving technology. There is no ivory tower that may shelter political science scholars from these challenges, real life problems dictate the discussion. If you browse through the programme, this becomes evident.
So, you may think, presenting our publications, discussions with authors new and old, and keeping a close eye on the development of subjects discussed in political science are the reasons that drive me to Lisbon this September. And you are right. And yet, I haven’t told you the main reason why it is me personally who is going.
The chance to (re)connect
In these past five years or more, I have been working towards a new role within my own publishing company. Freeing myself from the demands of my hitherto mainly editorial role meant that I have time and energy to develop the business in an organisational sense, looking at systems and processes, lobbying for independent academic publishers in an industry that is pushed more and more towards big corporations, and focusing on innovation, particularly in cooperation with other independents. This means, too, that my editorial team does the traveling and keeping up with authors and topics. And if I am totally honest, I envy them. So, I transformed my CEO role into a mash of editorial and C-suite role allowing for keeping in touch with some of my authors who have become my friends over the course of these past decades.
And this may be the clandestine driving force behind me going to Lisbon. Because this gives me the chance to (re)connect with all my friends from IPSA. Since 2003, when I was still working with my father in his publishing house Leske + Budrich, I represented a Budrich company at IPSA World Congresses.
In 2003, I “had to go” to Durban, South Africa, since I had just secured a book series with an IPSA Research Committee. And presenting the book series at those events was part of the agreement with this RC’s chairs. The Durban Congress was fabulous: my first time in South Africa, and the first time to dance the night away with renowned international political scientist.
When my father sold his publishing house, and I started my own in 2004, the RC chairs, John Trent and Michael Stein, decided to join me and my emerging company. Therefore, the 12 volumes of the “The World of Political Science – The development of the discipline” book series have all been published by Verlag Barbara Budrich. And I am very proud of this.
This meant, too, that even as a very new publishing company, Verlag Barbara Budrich was represented (by me) at the subsequent IPSA World Congresses – 2006 in Fukuoka, Japan, 2009 in Santiago de Chile, 2012 in Madrid, Spain, 2014 in Montréal, Canada, 2016 in Poznan, Poland, 2018 in Brisbane, Australia, 2021 due to the pandemic, virtual. Unfortunately, last year, I couldn’t make it to the World Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On the bright side, I will meet many old and new friends from the 11–13 September 2024 in Lisbon. (And I am planning to meet them all again in July 2025 in Seoul, South Korea.)
Therefore, while there are many good and sound reasons for an international publishing company like Verlag Barbara Budrich to book a booth at an international conference, going to IPSA events for me entails the fun part of a class reunion to some extent. And I am very much looking forward to it!
