A league of its own? The league of nations’ child welfare committee (1919-1936) and international monitoring of child welfare policies

This chapter deals with the transnational dimension which has governed the emergence of child welfare policies, focusing on the role played by international organisations in the dissemination and discussion of global child welfare measures and models. It traces the influenceof a specific agency – the League of Nations’ Child Welfare Committee – focusing on its genesis after WW1 in relation to a growing concern over the issue of child welfare among western nations, and its internal dynamics during the interwar years. Theanalysis of the committee’s work unveils the complex mechanisms of competition and collaboration between intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations and their respective members and delegates in the effot to establish a centre of expertise on child welfare and circulate best practices at a global level. Grounded in the archival records of several organisations represented on this committee, the chapter shows how the League’s institutional framework offeed new opportunities to devise and promote Western standards of child protection, suggesting a re-evaluation of its influenceand impact on contemporary social and educational policy-making processes.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development