"The Union of International Associations (UIA) was founded in 1910, aiming to coordinate the relations and interests of international organizations across the world. Its long history makes it a prism through which to study the field of international organizations and its dynamics.
Bringing together experts from fields including history, political science and international relations, architecture, historical sociology, digital humanities and information studies, International Organizations and Global Civil Society is the first scholarly book to cover both the UIA’s early years and its more recent past. Key issues explored include the UIA’s importance for the field of scientific internationalism, the relations between the UIA and other international organizations, and the changing position of the UIA when facing geopolitical challenges such as totalitarianism, the World Wars and the Cold War.
This important book addresses a number of current scholarly concerns: the concept of ""global civil society""; the development of international relations as a field of study; the investigation of transnational factors in modern and contemporary history; and the tracing of forerunners to the ""information society""."
INTRODUCTION: RECONSTRUCTING THE IDENTITIES OF AN INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, Daniel Laqua, Wouter Van Acker and Christophe Verbruggen Part I: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE UIA Chapter 1 CREATING THE UIA: HENRI LA FONTAINE, CYRILLE VAN OVERBERGH AND PAUL OTLET W. Boyd Rayward Chapter 2 THE UIA AND THE PATRONAGE OF INTERNATIONALISM: FROM THE BELLE ÉPOQUE TO THE SECOND WORLD WAR Christophe Verbruggen Chapter 3 EDUCATING INTERNATIONALISTS: THE CONTEXT, ROLE AND LEGACIES OF THE UIA’S ‘INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY’ Daniel Laqua Chapter 4 CARVING OUT A NEW ROLE: THE UIA AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR Part II: THE UIA IN A WORLD OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Chapter 5 BUILDING A ‘NEW INTERNATIONAL ORDER’: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS AND THE UIA Sarah Hellawell Chapter 6 LEGITIMIZING THE TRANSNATIONAL ASSOCIATIVE EXPERT: THE UNION INTERNATIONALE DES VILLES AND THE UIA Wouter Van Acker Chapter 7 HISTORIANS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF HISTORICAL SCIENCES Matthias Middell and Katja Naumann Part III: EXPLORING THE UIA’S PUBLICATIONS AND DATA Chapter 8 THE UIA AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY Thomas Davies Chapter 9 EVERYTHING ONE WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS? A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, 1909–2017 Pierre-Yves Saunier Chapter 10 LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIATS: DIGGING DEEPER INTO THE YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Bob Reinalda Chapter 11 MAPPING INTERNATIONALISM: CONGRESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS IN THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES Martin Grandjean and Marco H. D. van Leeuwen EPILOGUE: THE UIA IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Nancy Carfrae
Daniel Laqua is Associate Professor of European History at Northumbria University, UK. He is the author of The Age of Internationalism and Belgium, 1880–1930: Peace, Progress and Prestige. Wouter Van Acker is Associate Professor in Architectural Theory and History at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. Christophe Verbruggen is Associate Professor in Social and Cultural History at Ghent University, Belgium.
Reviews for International Organizations and Global Civil Society: Histories of the Union of International Associations
Essential for anybody who wants to use UIA data, as it is the deepest and clearest reference, introducing the organisation and its publications. At the same time, the book is an interesting read for anyone dealing with the international system ... In the different chapters, the authors show great knowledge of the subject they are handling, providing a series of well-known essential references along with more refined publications that are less known, but valuable indeed. It is surely a book that deserves a wide outreach. * Global Policy * International Organizations and Global Civil Society is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the history of international organizations. Well-written, deeply researched and insightful, it demonstrates the significance of the Union of International Associations to international historians, international relations scholars and information studies specialists. * Daniel Gorman, Professor of History, University of Waterloo, Canada * This volume sheds new light on the history of international cooperation in the 20th century. Breaking out of the mould of narrow institutional histories, the authors bring the UIA to life as a crucial element of the infrastructure of Brussels-centred internationalism, and one which provided the scaffolding for many international ventures. * Jessica Reinisch, Reader in Modern European History, Birkbeck, University of London, UK *
