Thomas Richard Davies

France and the World Disarmament Conference of 1932–34

Traditional accounts of the disastrous World Disarmament Conference of 1932–34 have placed the blame for its failure on France. Recent historians have revised this picture by describing the internal and external constraints on French policymakers and by delineating the equally obstructive policies adopted by the Anglo-Saxon countries. This article outlines each of these approaches, but takes the defence of France one step further. By assessing the evolution of French policy at the World Disarmament Conference, the article demonstrates that France was prepared to make greater concessions for the sake of agreement than any other country.

Educational internationalism, universal human rights, and international organisation: International Relations in the thought and practice of Robert Owen

Robert Owen, the early nineteenth-century social reformer, made a greatly more significant contribution to the theory and practice of International Relations than has hitherto been assumed. This article shows how Owen helped to develop an understudied but distinctive form of internationalist thought focusing on the role of education in the pursuit of peace. Owens previously neglected contributions to human rights norms and to international organisation are also explored, including his promotion of universal rather than nationally-oriented human rights standards, his role in the nascent movement towards the formation of international non-governmental organisations, and his contribution to international federalist ideas. Following an introduction to Owens place in the literature, this article discusses each of these contributions of Owen to the theory and practice of International Relations in turn. The analysis reveals that Owens contributions in each of these aspects are as significant for their limitations as for their insights.

The failure of strategic nonviolent action in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Syria: ‘political ju-jitsu’ in reverse

This article seeks to advance understanding of strategic nonviolent action through providing a more comprehensive assessment of the factors that may contribute towards the failure of nonviolent campaigns than has been undertaken to date. It disaggregates the wide range of international and national circumstances relevant to the failure of nonviolent action, illustrated with reference to experience of nonviolent action in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Syria since 2011. Through exploring these cases, the article proceeds to reveal how adherence to the assumed principles of nonviolent strategy may be insufficient in contributing towards success. It concludes by outlining four pathways by which nonviolent strategy may contribute towards its own failure, including its supersession by armed conflict.

History of Transnational Voluntary Associations: A Critical Multidisciplinary Review

This review explores the history of transnational voluntary associations, commencing with general patterns before proceeding to cover the history of different sectors in turn, including humanitarianism, science, education, environment, feminism, race, health, human rights, labor, business, standards, professions, culture, peace, religion, and youth. Coverage extends from the late eighteenth century through to the early twenty-first century and spans histories of particular organizations and of particular campaigns in addition to the evolution of broader transnational social movements. Contrasting perspectives on historical evolution are considered, including both linear and cyclical interpretations. The factors underpinning historical changes are explored, including economic, environmental, political, scientific, and social developments. Insights are drawn not only from a transnational historical perspective, but also the many other disciplines that shed light on the subject, such as world sociology. The review also incorporates perspectives from international relations, development studies, peace studies, voluntary sector studies, and women’s studies. It argues that the historical evolution of transnational voluntary associations is longer, less Western in origin and more cyclical than traditionally assumed.

Transnational Associations and INGOs: Macro-Associations

Taking international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) as the key focus, this chapter outlines the history and nature of transnational voluntary associations before proceeding to evaluate the recent transformation of their organizational forms and their shifting geographical distribution. We argue that the traditional, hierarchical model of a Western-headquartered INGO is being increasingly challenged by new, decentralized organizational forms based in multiple world regions. The chapter then considers transnational associations’ practices, exploring their advocacy and service roles and mechanisms for evaluating their effectiveness. The proposition that transnational associations have contributed toward developing global civil society and enhancing global democracy is then considered, before proceeding to an evaluation of their legitimacy and accountability, which have become increasingly central to the research agenda. The chapter concludes with recommendations for future research.

International Veterans’ Organizations and the Promotion of Disarmament Between the Two World Wars

The pursuit of international disarmament through the League of Nations mobilized European and North American transnational civil society to an unprecedented extent in the period between the two World Wars. International non-governmental organizations, which claimed a combined membership of between one-tenth and one-half of the population of the world at the time, joined forces to promote the issue at the World Disarmament Conference, held in Geneva from 1932 to 1934. Amongst the most effective participants in this movement, especially in continental Europe, were the international ex-servicemen’s organizations. This chapter explores the promotion of disarmament by two of the most significant international ex-servicemen’s organizations of the period: CIAMAC and FIDAC.

RESPONDING TO THE STREET: GOVERNMENT RESPONSES TO MASS PROTESTS IN DEMOCRACIES*

This article proposes two models that address the neglected relationship between protests, government countermovement strategies, and democratic politics. By contrasting centrifugal and centripetal dynamics triggered by government responses to mass protest, the models theorize the link between government counterframes and opposition politics in democracies. The strategies deployed by the Argentine and Brazilian governments during the cycle of mass protests that erupted in these countries in 2012–13 are used in illustration. The counterframing models developed in this article shed new light on the role of government responses in the dynamics of contentious politics, with potential for application to other contentious episodes and political contexts.

Understanding non-governmental organizations in world politics: The promise and pitfalls of the early ‘science of internationalism’:

The years immediately preceding the First World War witnessed the development of a significant body of literature claiming to establish a ‘science of internationalism’. This article draws attention to the importance of this literature, especially in relation to understanding the roles of non-governmental organizations in world politics. It elaborates the ways in which this literature sheds light on issues that have become central to 21st-century debates, including the characteristics, influence and legitimacy of non-governmental organizations in international relations. Among the principal authors discussed in the article are Paul Otlet, Henri La Fontaine and Alfred Fried, whose role in the development of international theory has previously received insufficient attention. The article concludes with an evaluation of potential lessons to be drawn from the experience of the early 20th-century ‘science of internationalism’.

The League of Nations

implications of the study-abroad phenomenon in France, which resulted in what she calls ‘the feminization of this innovation in American higher education’ (p. 86). From the very beginning with the Delaware and Smith programme, the vast majority of participants were women. Walton attributes this gender imbalance to the fact that many of the US participants were interested in preparing for careers back home as teachers of French, a traditional female occupation. She also notes that France, because of its great reputation as the centres of arts and literature, high fashion, haute cuisine, and other ‘feminine’ pursuits, had ‘a special allure for women more than men’ (pp. 88–9). In sharp contrast to the attraction of these high-minded undertakings, France’s (and particularly Paris’) reputation as a den of iniquity prompted grave apprehension among the parents of these young women, and in some cases among the US co-eds themselves. The US stereotype of French men as seducers, philanderers, and heartless cads was punctured as the jeunes américaines encountered members of the opposite sex who were scarcely different from the boys back home. Conversely, the Gallic stereotype of US women as domineering, assertive, aggressive, and defiantly independent bit the dust as French men got to know these US visitors. As Walton nicely puts it, such distorted images of the other culture ‘undergo reality checks, and lived experience transforms stereotypes into nuanced understanding’ (p. 11). This is a study of a very particular component of the study-abroad programmes that have proliferated in the United States right up to our own time. It complements the excellent work on US tourism in France by scholars such as Christopher Endy and Harvey Levenstein and Brooke Blower’s new study of US expatriates in Paris during the inter-war years. Well researched and written with clarity and verve, Walton’s book deserves the careful attention of specialists in US cultural diplomacy, Franco-American relations, and Women’s Studies.