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

Abstract

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’.

Transnational society as a mirror of international society: a reinterpretation of contemporary world order

“…The UIA (2018b) derives its legitimacy in part from international society in that it claims to have ‘a mandate from the United Nations to produce the Yearbook ’. However, the principal basis of the UIA's legitimacy stems from transnational society: it was established at a congress of the majority of the principal transnational associations of the time with statutes aiming toward serving the common interests of all transnational associations (Davies, 2017, 15).…”

The effectiveness of the World Anti-Doping Agency: developing a framework for analysis

“…Legitimacy takes two main forms one moral and the other social: moral legitimacy is based on values and social legitimacy is based on representation (Davies 2016). With regard to values and doping research demonstrates that on a number of issues, including doping, there is no global value consensus.…”