Multiple Identities and Scholarship in International Studies: 2019 ISA Presidential Address

Abstract

Abstract The International Studies Association (ISA) has gone through a variety of internal changes as a result of growth in our membership. Such growth transformed the association from a regional American enterprise into a global organization, diversified our disciplinary profile away from the dominance of political science, and incorporated individuals represented by a wide array of cultural identities into the membership. These changes have had huge effects on ISA's organizational identity and our attempts to manage it. I describe various options available for organizations to manage identity, including ISA's traditional strategy for identity management, and conclude with a plea for an aggregation strategy that refocuses attention on international studies as our master identity. I argue that such a strategy allows us to embrace and enhance the diversity of the association to pursue the major challenges facing the globe today.