Review of The history of the International Union of Psychological Science..

Abstract

MARK R. ROSENZWEIG, WAYNE W. HOLTZMAN, MICHEL SABOURIN, AND DAVID BELANGER The History of International Union of Psychological Science Philadelphia, PA: The Psychology Press, 2000, 256 pages (ISBN 1-84169-197-6, US$49.95, Hardcover) Reviewed by JOHN BENJAFIELD In 1997, Executive Committee of International Union of Psychological Science initiated a project to trace development of International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), not only since its founding at 14th International Congress of Psychology at Stockholm, 1951, but going back to 1881 when a Polish psychologist first proposed ideas of an international congress and of an international association of psychological societies (p. xi). Those responsible for carrying out this project were three Honorary Life Members of IUPsyS Executive Committee (Rozenzweig, Holtzman, & Belanger) and Michel Sabourin who had become Treasurer in 1993. Both Belanger and Sabourin are Canadians who have made notable contributions to Union. For example, Belanger was President of 26th International Congress of Psychology in Montreal in 1996, and Sabourin was appointed Editor of International Journal of Psychology in 1988. Because project only got underway quite recently, authors were not in a position to collect an oral history of Union. They have relied instead on archival material, including published proceedings of every International Congress of Psychology to date, and also extensive archives of minutes of Assemblies and meetings of Executive Committees (p. xi). Their aim was to transform this material into a book that could be both read enjoyably and would contain sufficient detail for archival purposes. It should be said straightaway that they have succeeded admirably in attaining their goal. The authors have managed to include a great deal of information, and it must be said that result occasionally resembles a book of lists (e.g., lists of who attended various congresses, percentage of attendees from each country, etc.). Read from cover to cover, book provides a very useful compendium of proceedings of IUPsyS and its predecessors. However, few will read it from cover to cover. Rather, this will be a great book to keep close at hand and dipped into at random. The assiduous sampler will discover many very interesting things. A few of these are listed below. A very strong feature of this book is its many photographs. Several of these have been oft reprinted before, and will certainly be familiar to most psychologists. There are other less familiar photographs of famous psychologists that are particularly interesting. For example, there is a superb portrait of Christine Ladd-Franklin (1847-1930) that helps convey those aspects of her persona that made her a formidable presence at conferences (cf. Hilgard, 1987, p. 124). Indeed, women figure very prominently in this history, many of them women who did not become as well known as Ladd-Franklin. The photograph of Jozefa Joteyko (1866-1928), a Polish scientist and first woman appointed to International Congress Committee, is particularly interesting in view of fact that many women attended early congresses, and the announcements for 3rd and 4th [1896 and 1900] congresses stated that women would be accorded same rights and privileges as (p. 25). There are also pictures of men who may not be, but should be, familiar figures. One of these is Julian Ochorowicz (1850-1917), who is aforementioned young Polish psychologist [who] first proposed idea of an international Congress. Throughout book there are several very useful tables that provide lists of members of various congresses as well as officers of IUPsyS. Reading these tables one cannot help but be struck by number of great names in history of psychology who have played central roles in history of organization. …