Technical Internationalism and Global Social Change: A Critical Look at the Historiography of the United Nations

2020 ◽  
pp. 243-264
Author(s):  
Daniel Speich Chassé
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
United Nations ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Global Communication ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Technical Basis

This chapter ventures into the technical basis of global sociability from a historical perspective, which renders the nation an effect of global communication rather than an agent. It examines the global numerical statistics on territories, populations, and economic potentials over the past centuries that have created a vast political space in which the nation features as a result. It also elaborates how numbers rule the world in manifold comparative frameworks by setting norms and designing communicative devices. The chapter suggests the notion of technical internationalism as a general framework for the analysis of certain governing organs. It argues that structural processes of a more anonymous nature constitute a global communicative convergence that concerns social change and were considered agents of change in their own right.

The World Economy through the Lens of the United Nations

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
The United Nations

This volume documents the intellectual influence of the United Nations through its flagship publication, the World Economic and Social Survey (WESS) on its seventieth anniversary. Prepared at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and first published in 1948 as the World Economic Report (subsequently renamed the WESS), it is the oldest continuous post-World War II publication of this kind, recording and analysing the performance of the global economy and social development trends, and offering relevant policy recommendations. This volume highlights how well WESS has tracked global economic and social conditions, and how its analyses have influenced and have been influenced by the prevailing discourse over the past seven decades. The volume critically reflects on its policy recommendations and their influence on actual policymaking and the shaping of the world economy. Although world economic and social conditions have changed significantly over the past seven decades and so have the policy recommendations of the Survey, some of its earlier recommendations remain relevant today; recommendations in WESS provided seven decades ago seem remarkably pertinent as the world currently struggles to regain high levels of employment and economic activity. Thus, in many ways, WESS was ahead of the curve on many substantive issues. Publication of this volume will enhance the interest of the wider community of policymakers, academics, development practitioners, and members of civil society in the analytical work of the UN in general and UN-DESA in particular.

The Repatriation and Resettlement of the Southern Sudanese

1972 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-26
Author(s):  
Louise W. Holborn
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Refugee Population ◽  
United Nations High Commissioner ◽  
The Past ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

While the world press has focused over the past year on problems surrounding the creation of still another refugee population in Africa — that of Uganda's Asians — far too little attention has been directed to the remarkable though still fragile process of repatriation and resettlement of hundreds of thousands of Southern Sudanese. This population of displaced persons includes both refugees who fled to other countries and large numbers of homeless who hid in the bush during the civil war that wracked the Sudan for seventeen years, from 1955 through the first months of 1972. Responding to the initiatives of President Gaafar al-Nimeiry of the Sudan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR), under an explicit mandate from the Secretary- General of the United Nations, has been raising funds, organizing activities on behalf of the most pressing needs and working closely with all local interests to meet overwhelming problems.

The United Nations and the homecoming of displaced populations

1994 ◽  
Vol 34 (301) ◽  
pp. 340-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Allen
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Displaced Populations ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International Border

According to UNHCR figures, in 1970 there were 2.5 million refugees in the world. In 1980, the figure was 11 million. By the early 1990s, the alarming spread of civil wars was prompting an average of 10,000 people a day to flee across an international border. In 1993, the estimated number of refugees had risen to 18.2 million. In addition there were at least 24 million people who been forcibly displaced within their own countries (UNHCR, 1993:1). In 1994, the situation has deteriorated further, particularly in Africa. In the past few weeks, well over a million refugees have fled the fighting in Rwanda.

Shattered Hopes amid Violent Repression: The 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the United Nations (Part 2)

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 127-153
Author(s):  
András Nagy
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Specific Aspect ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
The Past ◽  
International Response ◽  
Hungarian Revolution ◽  
The World ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Revolution

Few historical events over the past 70 years have rivaled the 1956 Hungarian revolution in its domestic and international impact. The research presented in the first part of this article (published in the Fall 2017 issue of the journal), which was based largely on recently declassified archival documents, focused on a specific aspect of the international response to the revolution—namely, the efforts of the United Nations (UN) to deal with urgent events during and immediately after the revolution. This second part focuses on the tragic consequences of the revolution, including trials, imprisonments, and executions, in the years that followed. The limitations of the UN in this instance have rarely been discussed, particularly by the organization's supporters. The silence surrounding these issues has affected dissidents and others throughout the world confronting dictatorial regimes. An understanding of what went wrong is crucial if the UN is to be more effective in the future.

Efforts to Improve International Migration Statistics: A Historical Perspective

1987 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 967-995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Percy Kraly ◽  
K.S. Gnanasekaran
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Migration ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Labor Organization ◽  
International Labor Organization ◽  
The Past ◽  
International Labor ◽  
History Of ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Statistical Systems

During the past decade the international statistical community has made several efforts to develop standards for the definition, collection and publication of statistics on international migration. This article surveys the history of official initiatives to standardize international migration statistics by reviewing the recommendations of the ISI, International Labor Organization and the United Nations and reports a recently proposed agenda for moving toward comparability among national statistical systems.

What Happened to the United Nations Ministate Problem

1977 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-124
Author(s):  
Michael M. Gunter
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Annual Report ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Voting Power ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
To Come ◽  
World Organization

During the past decade, a number of scholarly analyses of the United Nations ministate problem have appeared. This concern is understandable because the dilemma of ministate representation goes to the heart of the malaise increasingly gripping the world organization: How to square formal voting power with the realities of international politics? Indeed, no less of an authority than the late Secretary-General U Thant, in his final Annual Report, warned his reluctant audience that the ministate problem “is likely to become more acute in the years to come.”

The United Nations and Domestic Jurisdiction

1949 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leland M. Goodrich
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
World Community ◽  
The Past ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
The World ◽  
Domestic Jurisdiction ◽  
The United Nations

Referring to “domestic jurisdiction” as used in the League Covenant, Professor J. L. Brierly characterized it as “a new catchword,” capable of proving as great a hindrance to the orderly development of international law as “sovereignty” and “state equality” had been in the past, and about which “little seems to be known except its extreme sanctity.” Since these words were written, the Covenant of the League of Nations has been replaced by the Charter of the United Nations as the basic law of the organization of the world community. The concept of a reserved domestic jurisdiction is still with us. In fact, Article 2, paragraph 7, of the Charter gives it a broader definition and a wider range of application than did Article 15, paragraph 8, of the Covenant. What is the meaning of the domestic jurisdiction principle as set forth in the Charter? What effect has it had in practice on the working and development of the United Nations?

scholarly journals Call to Action To Elders Worldwide: The Need to Highlight Their Abilities, Wisdom, and Compassion as Citizen Diplomats, and Leaders for Social Change

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Ross
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Older People ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Changing Role ◽  
Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan (1999), the Secretary-General of the United Nations, noted that, “A Society for All Ages is one that sees elders as both agents and beneficiaries of development. It honors traditional elders in their leadership and consultative role in communities throughout the world.” Older persons are among the world resources most often unseen and overlooked. It therefore becomes necessary to raise the consciousness of older people to their changing role in American and global societies to ensure fulfillment in their eldering years. Prior prejudice against elders has prevented inclusion of their enormous potential, of their accumulated experience and wisdom. This paper is directed toward determining how best to utilize the talents, wisdom and life’s experience of these elders to add meaning and substance to their lives, while affording them the opportunity to continue to contribute their talents and abilities as political activists and leaders directed toward peacemaking and social change.

Provision of Remedies for Violation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: A Comparative Study of the United Nations, Inter-American and African Human Rights Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-318
Author(s):  
Roman Girma Teshome
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Regional Monitoring ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
To Receive

The effectiveness of human rights adjudicative procedures partly, if not most importantly, hinges upon the adequacy of the remedies they grant and the implementation of those remedies. This assertion also holds water with regard to the international and regional monitoring bodies established to receive individual complaints related to economic, social and cultural rights (hereinafter ‘ESC rights’ or ‘socio-economic rights’). Remedies can serve two major functions: they are meant, first, to rectify the pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage sustained by the particular victim, and second, to resolve systematic problems existing in the state machinery in order to ensure the non-repetition of the act. Hence, the role of remedies is not confined to correcting the past but also shaping the future by providing reforming measures a state has to undertake. The adequacy of remedies awarded by international and regional human rights bodies is also assessed based on these two benchmarks. The present article examines these issues in relation to individual complaint procedures that deal with the violation of ESC rights, with particular reference to the case laws of the three jurisdictions selected for this work, i.e. the United Nations, Inter-American and African Human Rights Systems.

Land of Blue Helmets

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Arab World ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Member States ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Political Mediation

Born in 1945, the United Nations (UN) came to life in the Arab world. It was there that the UN dealt with early diplomatic challenges that helped shape its institutions such as peacekeeping and political mediation. It was also there that the UN found itself trapped in, and sometimes part of, confounding geopolitical tensions in key international conflicts in the Cold War and post-Cold War periods, such as hostilities between Palestine and Iraq and between Libya and Syria. Much has changed over the past seven decades, but what has not changed is the central role played by the UN. This book's claim is that the UN is a constant site of struggle in the Arab world and equally that the Arab world serves as a location for the UN to define itself against the shifting politics of its age. Looking at the UN from the standpoint of the Arab world, this volume includes chapters on the potential and the problems of a UN that is framed by both the promises of its Charter and the contradictions of its member states.

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