Shaping the Transnational Sphere: Experts, Networks and Issues from the 1840s to the 1930s(14 Studies in Contemporary European History)

In the second half of the nineteenth century a new kind of social and cultural actor came to the fore: the expert. During this period complex processes of modernization, industrialization, urbanization, and nation-building gained pace, particularly in Western Europe and North America. These processes created new forms of specialized expertise that grew in demand and became indispensible in fields like sanitation, incarceration, urban planning, and education. Often the expertise needed stemmed from problems at a local or regional level, but many transcended nation-state borders. Experts helped shape a new transnational sphere by creating communities that crossed borders and languages, sharing knowledge and resources through those new communities, and by participating in special events such as congresses and world fairs.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations List of Tables Acknowledgements List of Contributors Introduction Davide Rodogno, Bernhard Struck and Jakob Vogel PART I: EXPERTS Chapter 1. Professionalism or Proselytism? Catholic “Internationalists” in the Nineteenth Century Vincent Viaene Chapter 2. Sanitizing the City: Transnational Work and Networks of French Sanitary Engineers, 1890s-1930s Stéphane Frioux Chapter 3. Policy Communities and Exchanges across Borders: The Case of Workplace Accidents at the Turn of the Twentieth Century Julia Moses Chapter 4. The Rise of Coordinated Action for Children in War and Peace: Experts at the League of Nations, 1924-1945 Dominique Marshall PART II: NETWORKS Chapter 5. Building a Transnational Network of Social Reform in the Nineteenth Century Chris Leonards and Nico Randeraad Chapter 6. The Politics of Expertise: The Association Internationale pour le Progrès des Sciences Sociales, Democratic Peace Movement and International Law Networks in Europe, 1858-1873 Christian Müller Chapter 7. The Road from Damascus: Transnational Jewish Philanthropic Organizations and the Jewish Mass Migration from Eastern Europe, 1840–1914 Tobias Brinkmann Chapter 8. From Peace Advocacy to International Relations Research: The Transformation of Transatlantic Philanthropic Networks, 1900-1930 Katharina Rietzler PART III: ISSUES Chapter 9. Transnational Cooperation and Criminal Policy. The Prison Reform Movement 1820s to 1950s Martina Henze Chapter 10. International Congresses of Education and the Circulation of Pedagogical Knowledge in Western Europe, 1880-1914 Damiano Matasci Chapter 11. From Transnational Reformist Network to International Organization: The International Associations for Labour Legislation and the International Labour Organization, 1900-1930s Sandrine Kott Chapter 12. Shaping Poland: Relief and Rehabilitation Programmes Undertaken by Foreign Organizations, 1918-1922 Davide Rodogno, Francesca Piana and Shaloma Gautier Select Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Davide Rodogno is Professor of International History at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. His publications include Fascism’s European Empire (2005) and Against Massacre (2011).

Review :
“In this cohesive volume of essays on a wide range of transnational movements in the European context, the editors and authors, from a range of national backgrounds, bring together social scientific and historical approaches to the study of transnational dynamics…The essays, covering all of these topics, are wideranging but also focused on the central themes laid out in the introduction. The volume as a whole makes important contributions to a historical understanding of transnationalism.” · Women & Social Movements in the US “This is an excellent collection which brings together up-to-date scholarship on internationalism, intellectual transfers and the role of experts therein. It sheds light on the creation of transnational networks and international organizations, and on the individuals or ideas that sustained them….Driven by substantial primary research, the manuscript offers fresh insights and adds flesh to the broader conceptual discussions on ‘transnational history’.” · Daniel Laqua,  Northumbria University “This is an excellent volume in almost every respect….It is an original contribution to the rapidly growing number of books dealing with transnational movements with a focus on social reform movements. It stretches beyond World War I and includes the period up to the 1930s, when every form of internationalism and all transnational movements were in a deep crisis. With ‘experts’ and ‘networks’ important themes of various fields of modern historiography are treated.” · Martin Geyer, LMU Munich