The Swiss Society of Americanists and the University of Geneva with the support of the ILO Century Project invite academics to submit individual paper proposals for an international conference to be held in Geneva (Switzerland), October 28-28, 2011, on the participation of Latin America in the activities of the Geneva's international organizations of the Interwar period: the League of Nations and the International Labour Organization.
The organizers, hoping that such a conference will
promote new research on this largely unexplored domain, will consider any proposals related to Latin America and the LoN and/or the ILO during the interwar period with a preference for the following issue:
- The LON and the ILO as spaces of experimentation and integration for multilateral diplomacy:
For the first time, Latin American states joined international organizations with a universal vocation. How did they learn to participate in multilateral diplomacy? Did they develop a new Latin American solidarity far away from U.S. influence, or on the contrary, did they replicate old antagonisms?
- The LON as a political organization able to guarantee national sovereignty and international peace:
For weak states in search of international recognition, the
LON could offer a space for the exercise and affirmation of sovereignty. Moreover, as LON’s primary goal was to prevent war, was it mobilized to solve inter-American conflicts? If so, how and why did LON’s mobilization occur?
- The LON and the ILO as producers of norms:
Technical, economic, financial,legal, social, health, humanitarian activities as well as intellectual cooperation
produced an important corpus of norms, such as conventions and resolutions. How were these norms transferred to national spaces, through which channels, and how successfully? Did the agents of normative production (international and national officials, delegates, intellectuals, journalists, experts) create specific networks?
- Latin America’s participation as a proof of the universality of the LON and the ILO.
The participation of Latin American states allowed both organizations to claim their universal vocation, despite the fact that they were mostly concerned with European issues. How did the officials of LON’s and ILO’s Secretariats promote their activities abroad and keep Latin American public opinions and governments interested in these institutions? Did they prompt reactions in Latin America?
Although the interwar years are at the center of this conference, the organizers will also take into consideration proposals on Latin America’s role in the transition
from the LON and the system of the United Nations.
Please send a 500-word abstract and a one-page CV no later than April 15, 2011 to the conference organizers at yannick.wehrli@unige.ch
Languages of the conference: French, Spanish, English
The institutions funding the conference will pay for the transportation and lodging of the scholars whose proposals are selected.
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