Reconciling Peace: International Coalitions for Peace in the Era of Decolonization, 1918-1970

Introduction

How did peace movements act upon the interlinked processes of decolonization and the Cold War? And how did these processes, in turn, impact the ability of peace movements to come together in large international organizations for peace? RECONPAX studies attempts to build large international coalitions for peace in the period 1918-1970.

Assumptions and Context

It departs from the assumption that, while peace activists reached out to each other in pursuit of shared goals, they did not necessarily share common methods. Attempts to include organizations from the decolonizing world in existing international bodies brought different understandings of peace work to the surface. In short, the necessary preconditions for a peaceful international order were both locally and historically contingent.

Historical Relevance

This project brings historical depth to an issue of continuing relevance to the international order. It challenges the historiographical focus on the Cold War as the primary factor in the development of international peace organizations.

Methodology

It does so in two ways:

1. By taking a longue durée perspective that incorporates precedents set by peace movements after the First World War.
2. By turning the lens on decolonization rather than on superpower competition.

Hypothesis

RECONPAX hypothesizes that the challenges posed by decolonization and the end of empire were the dominant drivers of success and failure in building international coalitions for peace.

Research Team

A four-person team consisting of:

• Two PhD researchers
• A Postdoc
• The Principal Investigator (PI)

will study these dynamics from four different, complementary vantage points, all divisive issues in the peace organizations of the postwar decades:

• Conscientious objection to military service in the decolonizing world (PhD1)
• Non-proliferation in the decolonizing world (PhD2)
• Peace in maternalist thought (Postdoc)
• Peace in anti-imperialist thought (PI)

Conclusion

Together, they will reveal how these issues shaped the possibilities and constraints of international coalition building.