Since the early 1990s there has been a growing interest in the study of the dialogical self stimulated by scientific developments in the broader areas of self and dialogue. The study of dialogical processes is of unprecedented importance in an era in which dialogical relationships, between and within people, are at the heart of living together in a globalizing world community. This consideration has led researchers to establish an organization with the aim of facilitating communication on an international basis. Against this background the International Society for Dialogical Science was founded in June 2002. The Society was formally constituted under Dutch law in June 2002 and established at Radboud University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
The objectives of the Society are:
a. The stimulation and facilitation of interaction between researchers and practitioners who are interested in the facilitation of dialogical processes in the self, in society and between cultures in a globalizing world;
b. The construction and further development of dialogical self theory and other theories which deal directly with the relationship between self and dialogue.
c. The development of scientific methods for assessment, promotion, and evaluation of dialogical processes in connection with the development of the self.
d. Bringing together theories, methods, research and practice from different psychological subdisciplines and related disciplines which deal with the topics mentioned under a and b. The following subdisciplines and disciplines are considered to be particularly relevant to this goal: personality psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, psychogerontology, psychology of culture & religion, clinical psychology, psychotherapy, personnel psychology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, brain sciences, humanities, social anthropology, sociology, philosophy, history, theology, and art.
e. International cooperation in the areas as described under a, b and c and between representatives from the subdisciplines and discplines mentioned under d.
Communication about information concerning planned and current research and practice. In the service of these objectives the Society organizes regular conferences, symposia, and workshops, distributes newsletters, and publishes articles in the section Dialogical Self Theory of the Journal of Constructivist Psychology.
The executive committee includes the following members:
The First International Conference on the Dialogical Self (ICDS-1) was organized by the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in June 2000. Participants from 15 countries presented 80 contributions.
Following this pattern, the ISDS proposes to organize an international conference every second year in different countries. Each conferences is combined with pre- and post-conference workshops, training courses and other activities.