scholarly journals Pioneering International Women’s Rights? The US National Woman’s Party and the 1933 Montevideo Equal Rights Treaties

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-437
Author(s):  
Paolo Amorosa
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
International Law ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
World War ◽  
The Us ◽  
National Woman's Party ◽  
Pan American ◽  
Alice Paul

Abstract Histories of equal rights for women in international law normally begin with post-World War II initiatives. Such an approach leaves out two treaties signed at the 1933 Montevideo Pan-American Conference, the Equal Nationality Treaty and the Equal Rights Treaty, which remain forgotten among international lawyers. By reconstructing their inception and intellectual background, this article aims to raise awareness about debates on international law among feminist activists in the interwar years. In turn, the focus on activist work allows for the recovery of the contribution of women to the development of the discipline in that seminal period, a contribution usually obfuscated by men’s predominance in diplomatic and academic roles. By outlining the contribution of two key promoters of the Montevideo treaties – Doris Stevens and Alice Paul of the National Woman’s Party – the article takes a step towards the re-inclusion of women’s rights activists within the shared heritage of international law and its history.

Apostles of Equality: James Brown Scott and the Feminist Cause

2019 ◽  
pp. 245-311
Author(s):  
Paolo Amorosa
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Short History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pan American ◽  
Alice Paul ◽  
Nationality Law

Chapter 6 tracks the story of an unlikely alliance between Scott and leading feminist activists Doris Stevens and Alice Paul. The first section provides a short history of the women’s rights movement in the United States and details how Paul and Stevens rose to become key figures in the battle for women’s suffrage. Section 2 tracks the early interest by feminist activists in international politics. As Paul and Stevens moved toward internationalism, Scott moved closer to the positions of women’s rights activists by becoming a supporter of the equality of sexes under nationality law. Section 3 follows the collaboration between Scott and the feminist leaders. Beginning in 1928, the collaboration would peak in 1933 with the approval at the Montevideo Pan-American Conference of two equal rights treaties.

The Anti-imperialist Origins of International Women’s Rights

2019 ◽  
pp. 40-66
Author(s):  
Katherine M. Marino
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
National Woman's Party ◽  
Sixth International Conference ◽  
Pan American ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The U.S

This chapter explores how a group of feminists from Central America, the Caribbean, and the U.S. who spoke out against U.S. imperialism, revitalized Pan-American feminism and developed an international treaty for women’s rights. In 1926, at the Inter-American Congress of Women in Panama City, Panamanian Clara Gonzoz and Cuban Ofelia Dom쭧uez Navarro, carried the torch of Paulina Luisi’s Pan-Hispanic feminism. They argued for international women’s rights treaties and spoke out against U.S. empire in the region, including in the Panama Canal. Two years later, at the Sixth International Conference of American States in Havana, Cuba, anti-imperialist feminist solidarity emerged between Cuban feminists (including Dom쭧uez) and women from the U.S. National Woman’s Party who, together, gate-crashed the conference. Led by U.S. feminist Doris Stevens, these women marched in the streets of Havana and achieved a hearing at the conference plenary. At a time when U.S. marines were dive-bombing Nicaragua, feminists’ calls for national sovereignty and women’s sovereignty in an Equal Rights Treaty gained the favor of many Latin American statesmen in Havana. Although the treaty did not pass, their efforts resulted in the creation of the Inter-American Commission of Women which would give organizational form to Pan-American feminism for several decades.

Is there room for international law in realpolitik?: accounting for the US ‘attitude’ towards international law

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley V. Scott
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Law ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Us ◽  
International Rule

The United States has in recent years come under considerable criticism for its apparently cynical attitude towards international law. While the US administration refers often to the importance of the international rule of law it appears unwilling to itself be bound by that law. While the US took the lead in the post World War II years in establishing international law and institutions it has in recent years appeared unwilling to give those same institutions its full support. This article begins by examining a range of explanations for the seemingly undesirable US attitude towards international law. Dismissing each as inadequate on its own, the article demonstrates how what often appear to be contradictory aspects of the United States' relationship with international law can in fact be reconciled through the application to United States' behaviour of the basic tenets of classic modern realism as it pertains to the conduct of foreign policy. This is surprising since international law and realpolitik are more often contrasted. The United States' ‘attitude’ towards international law is better explained not as a post-Cold War anomaly but as having been an integral aspect of the rise of the United States to sole superpower status.

The Unassailable Self: Freud's Image Among Post-war American Intellectuals

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Jenness
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Cold War ◽  
External Force ◽  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Human Being ◽  
World War ◽  
The Us ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Way

This paper explores the way American intellectuals depicted Sigmund Freud during the peak of popularity and prestige of psychoanalysis in the US, roughly the decade and a half following World War II. These intellectuals insisted upon the unassailability of Freud's mind and personality. He was depicted as unsusceptible to any external force or influence, a trait which was thought to account for Freud's admirable comportment as a scientist, colleague and human being. This post-war image of Freud was shaped in part by the Cold War anxiety that modern individuality was imperilled by totalitarian forces, which could only be resisted by the most rugged of selves. It was also shaped by the unique situation of the intellectuals themselves, who were eager to position themselves, like the Freud they imagined, as steadfastly independent and critical thinkers who would, through the very clarity of their thought, lead America to a more robust democracy.

La “neutralidad” chilena en la Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1943): Un análisis historiográfico con énfasis en la literatura sobre las relaciones Chile-Japón

2016 ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Pedro Iacobelli Delpiano
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
World War ◽  
International History ◽  
Roosevelt Administration ◽  
The Us ◽  
Second World

ResumenLa literatura sobre la historia internacional de Chile durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial ha centrado el debate en torno al juego de presiones ejercidas por los Estados Unidos hacia los gobiernos radicales de Jerónimo Méndez Arancibia y Juan Antonio Ríos Morales para conseguir que Chile se sumara a la política continental contra las fuerzas del Eje. La neutralidad chilena fue interpretada como una actitud traicionera por los estadounidenses y en un triunfo por los países del Eje durante 1941 a 1943. Este artículo introduce el debate y busca presentar las posibilidades historiográficas al incluir a Japón, tanto como actor relevante en la política chilena como receptor de la “neutralidad” chilena en el periodo.Palabras clave: Chile, Japón, Segunda Guerra Mundial, Estados Unidos, historiografíaThe Chilean “Neutrality” in World War II (1939-1943): A historiographical analysis focused on the literature of the diplomatic relations between Chile and JapanAbstractThe literature about Chile´s international history during World War II has heavily laid on the power dynamics between the US and the Chilean radical governments of vice-president (interim) Jerónimo Méndez Arancibia and president Juan Antonio Rios Morales. Since the Roosevelt administration sought to secure the rupture of diplomatic relations between Chile and the Axis powers, Santiago´s refusal to break relations was understood as treason by the US and as a diplomatic success by the Axis powers during 1941-1943.This paper delves into the historiographical possibilities in including Japan, either as a relevant actor in the Chilean politics and as receptor of the newsabout Chile´s neutrality.Keywords: Chile, Japan, Second World War, United States, historiographyA “neutralidade” chilena na segunda guerra mundial(1939-1943): uma análise historiográfica, com ênfase naliteratura sobre as relações Chile-JapãoResumoA literatura sobre a história internacional do Chile durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial tem-se centrado no debate em torno ao jogo de pressões exercidas pelos Estados Unidos aos governos radicais de Jerónimo Méndez Arancibia e Juan Antonio Rios Morales, para conseguir que o Chile pudesse se somar a política continental contra as forças do Eixo. A neutralidade chilena foi interpretada como uma atitude traiçoeira pelos norte-americanos e uma vitória para os países do Eixo durante 1941 a 1943. Este artigo introduz o debate e procura a presentar as possibilidades historiográficas ao incluir ao Japão, tanto como um ator relevante na política chilena como o destinatário da “neutralidade” chilena no período.Palavras-chave: Chile, Japão, Segunda Guerra Mundial, Estados Unidos, historiografia

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document