Organizing the 20th-Century World - (Histories of Internationalism) by Karen Gram-Skjoldager & Haakon Andreas Ikonomou & Torsten Kahlert (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A historical and methodological exploration of International Organizations as a new form of political power between the 1920s and 1960s"--

Book Synopsis

International Organizations play a pivotal role on the modern global stage and have done, this book argues, since the beginning of the 20th century. This volume offers the first historical exploration into the formative years of international public administrations, covering the birth of the League of Nations and the emergence of the second generation that still shape international politics today such as the UN, NATO and OECD.

Centring on Europe, where the multilaterization of international relations played out more intensely in the mid-20th century than in other parts of the world, it demonstrates a broad range of historiographical and methodological approaches to institutions in international history. The book argues that after several 'turns' (cultural, linguistic, material, transnational), international history is now better equipped to restate its core questions of policy and power with a view to their institutional dimensions. Making use of new approaches in the field, this book develops an understanding of the specific powers and roles of IO-administrations by delving into their institutional make-up.

Review Quotes

Organizing the 20th Century World is an outstanding work of scholarship. Gram-Skjoldager, Ikonomou, and Kahlert have gathered a collection of ground-breaking essays on the emergence of international administration. International historians have been waiting for a book like this for a long time
Daniel Gorman, Professor of History, University of Waterloo, Canada

At a time when international organizations are bearing the brunt of anti-globalization, this collection is a much needed reminder of the complex of public service goals that sit at the heart of the history of the international order, as we know it.
Glenda Sluga, Professor of International History, European University Institute, Italy, and ARC Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellow, The University of Sydney, Australia

Just like the meaning of a word is its use in a language, the meaning of an International Organisation is its work in governance. In order to understand this highly productive social form, we need to understand how the employees work and how that work interacts with political life overall. This is exactly what this path-breaking volume helps us with. A triumph of inductive scholarship.
Iver B. Neumann, Director of Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway

About the Author

Karen Gram-Skjoldager is Associate Professor of 20th century International History at Aarhus University, Denmark. She has published two monographs and a number of articles in international and global history journals, and is currently the Director of the research project The Invention of International Bureaucracy, funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research.

Haakon Andreas Ikonomou is Associate Professor of International History at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, where he is also Director of the Rethinking European Integration Research Group. He is the editor of two volumes on themes of international history and has published several articles in top journals in his field.

Torsten Kahlert is a Postdoctoral Researcher and part of The Invention of International Bureaucracy project at Aarhus University, Denmark. He has published one book and several articles in the field of history of science and international history. He is member of the advisory group and review editor of H-Soz-Kult.