British Internationalism at the International Labour Organization (1919-1946)

Olga Hidalgo-Weber, from the University of Geneva, discusses her research on British Internationalism at the ILO

This seminar on the British and the International Labour Organization (ILO) will address British internationalism and its imperial vision of the world through an international organization. By mapping the networks of British actors in relation with the ILO, their motivations and their achievements, it is possible to draw up a new panorama of the British internationalists.

According to the historian Martin Pugh, Great Britain is the only country which can claim to be a global power in the 1920s. Yet, from 1919 on, British supremacy is challenged by two new international entities: a diplomatic organization, the League of Nations, and, a technical and tripartite organization, ILO, which addresses social issues. How does this great power manage its relationship with these new international organizations located in Geneva in 1919?

The League of Nations was created without the support of the British conservatives who were wary of it for fear that it could undermine their sovereignty in their Empire. Can this way of thinking apply to the ILO? How in this context, does Great Britain conduct its relations with an organization within which it has to deal simultaneously with governments, employers and unions?