Understanding Non-Governmental Organizations in World Politics: The Promise and Pitfalls of the Early ‘Science of Internationalism’ In 2016, Davies has published ”Understanding Non-Governmental Organizations in World Politics: The Promise and Pitfalls of the Early ‘Science of Internationalism”. In this article, he focuses on the science of internationalism, and its understanding concerning non-governmental organizations. Internationalism has emerged in the early years of twentieth century. Internationalism was defined as ”the idea that we both are and should be part of a broader community than that of the nation or the state” by Halliday (as cited in Davies, 2016, p.887).
There had been identified many derivatives of internationalism such as liberal, economic, political, humanitarian etc. The main aim of internationalism was to promote shared perspective to international peace. The three pioneers of internationalism were Alfred Fried, Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine. Two of them, Otlet and La Fontaine, were also the founders of the Union of International Associations, which is a non-governmental organization to study on information about global civil society. Internationalism had lost its importance after First World War. The pioneers of internationalism did not use the exact term for non-governmental organizations, but they distinguished private international organizations from public international organizations. According to their description, private international organizations, known as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) today, were non-profit-making and open to members from anywhere.
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These features were separated private international organizations from public international organizations. However, in the period of internationalism, there were restrictions for non-governmental organizations. After the First World War, non-governmental organizations had exposure to pressure of centralization and hierarchy in the organizational structure.
In summary, Davies examines internationalism in the early twentieth century and its views on non-governmental organizations in ”Understanding Non-Governmental Organizations in World Politics: The Promise and Pitfalls of the Early ‘Science of Internationalism”. References Davies, T. R. (2016). Understanding non-governmental organizations in world politics: The promise and pitfalls of the early ‘science of internationalism’. European Journal of International Relations, 23(4), 884-905.