Organizing the 20th-Century World

Karen Gram-Skjoldager is Associate Professor of 20th century International History at Aarhus University, Denmark. She has published two monographs and a number of articles in international and global history journals, and is currently the Director of the research project The Invention of International Bureaucracy, funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research. Haakon Andreas Ikonomou is Associate Professor of International History at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, where he is also Director of the Rethinking European Integration Research Group. He is the editor of two volumes on themes of international history and has published several articles in top journals in his field. Torsten Kahlert is a Postdoctoral Researcher and part of The Invention of International Bureaucracy project at Aarhus University, Denmark. He has published one book and several articles in the field of history of science and international history. He is member of the advisory group and review editor of H-Soz-Kult.

• Chapter 1: Introduction, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Aarhus University, Denmark and Haakon A. Ikonomou, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Torsten Kahlert, and University of Copenhagen, Denmark.Part I: Populating AdministrationsChapter 2 Biographical Analysis: Insights and Perspectives from the IO BIO Dictionary Project Bob Reinalda, Radboud University, The Netherlands.Chapter 3 The Biography as Institutional Can-Opener: An Investigation of Core Bureaucratic Practices in the Early Years of the League of Nations SecretariatHaakon A. Ikonomou, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.Chapter 4 Prosopography – Unlocking the Social World of International OrganizationsTorsten Kahlert, Aarhus University, Denmark.Part II: Learning and NormsChapter 5: The Influence of the United States on the Rise of Global Governance inEducation: The OEEC and UNESCO in the Post-World War II Period,Maren Elfert, King's College London, UK & Christian Ydesen, Aalborg University, Denmark.Chapter 6: Learning Across Institutions – the Officials of the ECSC High Authority and EEC Commission, Katja Seidel, University of Westminster, UK Chapter 7: Food and Nutrition – Expertise Across International Epistemic Communities and Organizations, 1919-1960, Amy Sayward, Middle Tennessee State University, USA.Part III: Legitimacy and LegimizationChapter 8: Legitimizing International Bureaucracy – Press and Information Work from the League of Nations to the UN, Emil Seidenfaden, Aarhus University, DenmarkChapter 9: Between Publicity and Discretion: The International Federation of League of Nations Societies, Anne-Isabelle Richard, Leiden University, The NetherlandsChapter 10 An Uneasy Relationship – German Diplomats and Bureaucrats in the League of Nations, Michael Jonas, Helmut Schmidt Universität, GermanyPart IV: Leadership and AdministrationChapter 11: Secretaries-General and Crisis Management – Trygve Lie and the UN, Ellen Ravndal, University of Stavanger, Norway.Chapter 12: Leadership Styles and Organizing Principles in NATO: Ismay, Spaak and Wörner, Linda Risso, Institute of Historical Research/School of Advanced Studies, UKChapter 13: The Making of International Civil Servants c. 1920-1960 – Establishing the Profession, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, University of Copenhagen, Denmark and Haakon A. Ikonomou, Aarhus University, Denmark

Just like the meaning of a word is its use in a language, the meaning of an International Organisation is its work in governance. In order to understand this highly productive social form, we need to understand how the employees work and how that work interacts with political life overall. This is exactly what this path-breaking volume helps us with. A triumph of inductive scholarship.