Uniting Nations

Uniting Nations is a comparative study of Britons who worked in the United Nations and international non-governmental and civil society organizations from 1945 to 1970 and their role in forging the postwar international system. Daniel Gorman interweaves the personal histories of scores of individuals who worked in UN organizations, the world government movement, Quaker international volunteer societies, and colonial freedom societies to demonstrate how international public policy often emerged 'from the ground up.' He reveals the importance of interwar, Second World War, colonial, and voluntary experiences in inspiring international careers, how international and national identities intermingled in the minds of international civil servants and civil society activists, and the ways in which international policy is personal. It is in the personal relationships forged by international civil servants and activists, positive and negative, biased and altruistic, short-sighted or visionary, that the “international” is to be found in the postwar international order.

“'This well-researched book generates new insights into the role of international civil servants offering an excellent comparison of the different spaces and agency of civil servants and non-state actors. It is essential reading for the expanding literature on the inner workings of international organisations.' Alanna O'Malley, Leiden University”

'This is an insightful account of Britain's role in post-war internationalism. In a field that tends to focus on institutions and governance, Gorman shows how individuals from various walks of life shaped international civil service and civil society. The rich case studies provide new perspectives on how decolonisation, technical development, human rights, and professionalisation registered in the international sphere.' Anna Bocking-Welch, University of Liverpool
'Gorman's book maps out, for the first time and on the basis of extensive research, the contribution made by many individual Britons to the burgeoning international community of the post-war decades: the careers that they made, the institutions that they served, and the ideas that motivated them.' Tom Buchanan, University of Oxford

'This book deserves a wide readership. Its argument, intervention, and methodological insights would make it especially compelling reading material for discussions in graduate seminars. At the same time, its accessible writing and episodic form would easily allow individual chapters to be assigned in undergraduate courses. It will ultimately be an important resource for academic audiences in international history and modern British history; those interested in histories of decolonization, anticolonial activism, and transnational social movements; and for readers in development studies and related fields.' Daniel Gipper, H-Net Reviews

Daniel Gorman is Professor of History at University of Waterloo. He is the author of International Cooperation in the Early Twentieth Century (2017), The Emergence of International Society in the 1920s (2012), and Imperial Citizenship: Empire and the Question of Belonging (2007). He is the co-editor with Martin Gutmann of Before the SDGs: A Historical Companion to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (2022).

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