International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR)

The International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR) held its ninth international conference, Facing Crises: Challenges and Opportunities Confronting the Third Sector and Civil Society, at Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey on 7–10 July 2010. Rajesh Tandon, President, PRIA attended the conference and made a presentation on ‘Regaining Civil Society Spaces: Reconnecting Knowledge and Action.’

The third sector has grown in the past two decades. It plays an important role in providing social services, contributing to policy development, advocating for the rights of poor and oppressed people and for women’s rights, contributing to livelihoods and reduction of poverty, making international aid more effective, growing social capital, contributing to social enterprise and social entrepreneurship, and in many other ways. The economic and financial crisis that has spread across the world since early 2008; ongoing global and local environmental crises; major wars and the related refugee crises; public health issues; global climate change; and many other challenges confront the functioning of civil society. These challenges exist alongside opportunities for citizen participation around the world, innovative ideas for philanthropy, for volunteering and for giving.

The 2010 ISTR International Conference took stock of the challenges and opportunities facing the third sector and civil society, offering an excellent opportunity for discussing these and related questions in an academic environment of theoretical and empirical rigor and creativity.

ISTR is a major international association promoting research and education in the fields of philanthropy, civil society and the nonprofit sector. ISTR reflects the growing worldwide interest in Third Sector research and provides a permanent forum for international research, while at the same time building a global scholarly community in this field.