Čarna Brković, SIEF President

Invitation to Vote on Proposed Bylaw Changes

Dear SIEF members,

The Board of the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore invites you to vote and share your opinion on several issues relevant to the Society’s present and future. The SIEF Bylaws are a living document, reflecting the pulse and tempo of its diverse and changing membership. Last updated in 2017, the Bylaws no longer correspond to the current situation. The members of the SIEF Board have therefore prepared several proposals to update them.

The SIEF Board has worked closely and collaboratively on the proposed changes to the Bylaws now before you. These changes reflect SIEF’s core values, as outlined in its Mission, including excellent scholarship, open-mindedness, eclecticism, an exploratory spirit, respect for the richness of diverse academic traditions, a commitment to free and open communication across boundaries, borders, and disciplines, as well as a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The proposed articles also reflect changes that have already taken place within the Society. Over the last decade, the Society has outgrown the voting system based on a show of hands. While this method is appropriate for smaller groups that can operate informally and immediately, an international society with over 1,000 members requires a different voting mechanism. Such a system should enable broader democratic participation, ensure more balanced and stable representation, and guarantee anonymity. Following amendments adopted during an Extraordinary General Assembly in 2014, SIEF members are now able to vote online and collectively decide how the Society should be governed in the coming years. A broad participation in the vote on the Bylaws is needed for democratic representation, and we hope that SIEF membership will respond to the vote in large numbers.

SIEF members are invited to vote separately on each article for which a change is proposed, and to express their opinion if they disagree with any proposal. Should any proposals be rejected, the Board will take appropriate steps to facilitate broad discussion and knowledge-sharing among SIEF members on the issues related to those articles.
For all these reasons, please vote, dear SIEF members!

You should have received an email with a link to the poll and further instructions on how to vote.

SIEF President
Čarna Brković