Constitution

EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR OCEANISTS (ESfO) CONSTITUTION
Modified and ratified at the ESfO General Assembly in Cambridge, December 9th 2018

1. Name:

The European Society for Oceanists (ESfO) was established on the occasion of the First European Colloquium on Pacific Studies in Nijmegen (The Netherlands) in 1992.

2. Aims:

a. The society addresses itself to researchers with a regional interest in Oceania. “Oceania” is defined as comprising the classic geographic areas of Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

b. In the context of an increasingly integrated Europe the Society aims to enhance intellectual exchange and cooperation between individual researchers and between scholarly institutions, both within and outside Europe. This goal is to be achieved by maintaining an information network, by organizing conferences and by other appropriate means.

c. The society shall also endeavor to represent the interests of Pacific peoples to the general European public and institutions.

3. Membership:

a. The ESfO is an interdisciplinary organization; membership is open to anthropologists, linguists, historians, geographers, psychologists and other researchers.

b. Members are Oceanists who have been admitted to membership by decision of the Board. An applicant for membership must be sponsored by an existing member of the society. Application is by correspondence with the board Chair, and must indicate a sponsor who is a current member.

c. Eligible are people of academic standing who, by virtue of their training, posts held, or works published, can be recognised as professional Oceanists.

d. Members will have the right to attend conferences, to vote during the plenary sessions of the society, to participate in the elections of the board, and to receive information regarding the activities of the society.

e. Membership will be terminated by a written notification to, or from, the board.

4. Plenary Sessions:

a. At the end of each conference a plenary session will be held. It is intended as a forum for ESfO

members, during which the general direction of activities, including the themes of future conferences of the society, will be discussed.

b. Constitutional changes may be proposed by any member of the society. Such proposals should be submitted to the chairperson in written form and should be received at least a week before the plenary session. Changes in the constitution must be approved by a two thirds majority of the members present during the plenary session.

5. Board:

a. The board of the ESfO consists of two representative from each of those European countries or group of countries where research in Oceania has a firmly established tradition – i.e. Austria/Eastern Europe, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Southern Europe, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland – and two representatives from Pacific island nations. Other countries may join. The board will decide on the extension of board membership, subject to the endorsement by the plenary meeting.

b. Board members should have a professional affiliation with an academic institution, i.e. university or museum or equivalent.

c. The members of each of the countries or groups of countries specified are invited to provide the board with the names of two or more members who have agreed to serve on the board. These names shall be received by the board within six months of the next conference. Where the number of candidates for a particular country or a group of countries exceeds two, a ballot of all members of ESfO participating at the conference before the general meeting will be held. All members of all countries or groups of countries are allowed to vote for the candidates. The candidates from each country or groups of countries with the greatest number of votes will be declared elected.

d. All board members are elected for a term of two or three years, depending on the interval between conferences, and are eligible for election of three consecutive terms. The board has the discretion to co−opt additional board members as necessary.

e. The board members will elect from their number a chairperson, a deputy (preferably from the same country or group of countries), and – if necessary – a treasurer. The elected chairperson and deputy will organise the next conference to be held in their country. Chairperson and deputy shall act for a period of two or three years depending on the interval between conferences.

f. The board will meet at least once a year, and will establish its own rules of procedure. The board may decide to introduce and set a membership fee and a conference registration fee.

6. Conferences:

Conferences should take place every two or three years to ensure intellectual exchange and cooperation. They should be organised by the board chairperson and deputy with the support of the other board members. The board as a whole proposes a general theme considered relevant for Oceania.

(Constitution written in Basel, December 15, 1994, with amendments ratified in Vienna July 6 2002, Verona July 12th 2008, Bergen December 8th 2012 and Cambridge December 9th 2018)