Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MAKEINTL (Making Amnesty international: connections, disconnections, and the uneven geography of international human rights, 1961-2001)
Période du rapport: 2022-05-01 au 2024-04-30
This MSCA Individual Fellowship centred on the project ‘Making Amnesty international: connections, disconnection and the uneven geography of international human rights, 1961-2001’. This project used the human rights organisation Amnesty International as a window onto the following questions: How does an organisation become international? How does it overcome the political, social, cultural and material barriers to cross-border, multi-scale collaboration – and what happens if it can’t overcome them? In focusing on these questions, the Action aimed to contribute to the effective pursuit of global partnerships, one of the key Sustainable Development Goals.
The scientific objectives of this project were to identify the political, material and historical conditions that both facilitated and hindered the development of Amnesty International, comparing these conditions in different parts of the world, to understand how the uneven geography of Amnesty International shaped its understanding of human rights, and the generation of novel concepts and outputs for use in research, teaching, and policy for the understanding of international NGOs and activist networks, North-South cooperation and collaboration, and international human rights. The project also aimed to enhance the researcher’s skills through training, widening both her scientific knowledge and capabilities, as well as her organisational and other soft skills.
These questions are important for society as building cross-border collaborations, especially ones across North-South lines, are essential for confronting global challenges like climate change. By qualitatively investigating an example of people coming together to confront the ‘global challenge’ of human rights violations, this project shows how the manner in which people come together, they type of organisation or network they built, and the barriers that remain to collaboration, shaped the very notion of human rights. This has important lessons for civil society organisations, for policy makers and for ordinary citizens concerned about international scale issues.
The scientific objectives of this project were to identify the political, material and historical conditions that both facilitated and hindered the development of Amnesty International, comparing these conditions in different parts of the world, to understand how the uneven geography of Amnesty International shaped its understanding of human rights, and the generation of novel concepts and outputs for use in research, teaching, and policy for the understanding of international NGOs and activist networks, North-South cooperation and collaboration, and international human rights. The project also aimed to enhance the researcher’s skills through training, widening both her scientific knowledge and capabilities, as well as her organisational and other soft skills.
These questions are important for society as building cross-border collaborations, especially ones across North-South lines, are essential for confronting global challenges like climate change. By qualitatively investigating an example of people coming together to confront the ‘global challenge’ of human rights violations, this project shows how the manner in which people come together, they type of organisation or network they built, and the barriers that remain to collaboration, shaped the very notion of human rights. This has important lessons for civil society organisations, for policy makers and for ordinary citizens concerned about international scale issues.
The work for this project was divided across 7 Work packages (WPs). WP1 involved covered data collection. This involved archival research, interviews with over 30 individuals, the consultation of personal collections given to me by interviewees, as well as work with secondary sources and published materials.
WP2, 3 and 4 focused on the research objectives: understanding the conditions that shaped the internationalisation of Amnesty (WP1), comparing these conditions in different parts of the world to understand how the uneven geography of Amnesty International shaped its understanding of human rights (WP2), and the generation of novel concepts and outputs for use in research, teaching, and policy for the understanding of international NGOs and activist networks, North-South cooperation and collaboration, and international human rights (WP3). These WPs all drew on the data collection conducted in WP1. Across these WPs the fellow delivered three refereed journal articles, one book proposal (with a manuscript in progress), five conference papers, seven lectures or workshop presentations, and one international scientific conference. There are also two forthcoming conference papers and one forthcoming conference panel.
WP5 focused on training, skills and knowledge transfer. This involved the acquisition of new skills on the part of the researcher, and the transfer of knowledge to the host. A wide range of skills were gained, enhancing the researcher’s potential both in the scientific field as well as in affiliated fields, particularly the NGO and civil society field. An expansion of scientific knowledge occurred via the research project itself, as well as through training courses, while enhanced personal effectiveness, improved research governance and organisational skills, and skills in engagement and impact were achieved through targeted training courses and through the management of the project. Transfer of knowledge to the host also took multiple forms. Academic knowledge was transferred through guest lectures in undergraduate and MA courses, and through supervision of MA theses. Administrative and organisational knowledge was transferred through a workshop on the internationalisation of the curriculum, and through training several PhD researchers in organising a conference, showing them through the various steps from putting together a call for papers and distributing it, to selection, contacting participants, and managing the logistics of the event itself. ToK also took the form of connecting the host research group to the researcher’s broader network, via organising a research seminar series wherein invited speakers came to discuss their work with the group.
WP6 focuses on dissemination, exploitation and communication of results. In addition to the scholarly and policy outputs mentioned above and below, special emphasis was placed on engagement with and dissemination within the broader public. This took the form of articles in magazines and lectures for diverse publics, such as for example a lecturer on human rights for school children as part of the Kinderuniversiteit (Children’s University) event.
WP7 covered the management of the project. This was done in conjunction with the project supervisor, as well as with the help of the support staff from the host. As a major EU funded project, the management WP greatly contributed to the development of new skills and enhanced the career potential of the researcher.
WP2, 3 and 4 focused on the research objectives: understanding the conditions that shaped the internationalisation of Amnesty (WP1), comparing these conditions in different parts of the world to understand how the uneven geography of Amnesty International shaped its understanding of human rights (WP2), and the generation of novel concepts and outputs for use in research, teaching, and policy for the understanding of international NGOs and activist networks, North-South cooperation and collaboration, and international human rights (WP3). These WPs all drew on the data collection conducted in WP1. Across these WPs the fellow delivered three refereed journal articles, one book proposal (with a manuscript in progress), five conference papers, seven lectures or workshop presentations, and one international scientific conference. There are also two forthcoming conference papers and one forthcoming conference panel.
WP5 focused on training, skills and knowledge transfer. This involved the acquisition of new skills on the part of the researcher, and the transfer of knowledge to the host. A wide range of skills were gained, enhancing the researcher’s potential both in the scientific field as well as in affiliated fields, particularly the NGO and civil society field. An expansion of scientific knowledge occurred via the research project itself, as well as through training courses, while enhanced personal effectiveness, improved research governance and organisational skills, and skills in engagement and impact were achieved through targeted training courses and through the management of the project. Transfer of knowledge to the host also took multiple forms. Academic knowledge was transferred through guest lectures in undergraduate and MA courses, and through supervision of MA theses. Administrative and organisational knowledge was transferred through a workshop on the internationalisation of the curriculum, and through training several PhD researchers in organising a conference, showing them through the various steps from putting together a call for papers and distributing it, to selection, contacting participants, and managing the logistics of the event itself. ToK also took the form of connecting the host research group to the researcher’s broader network, via organising a research seminar series wherein invited speakers came to discuss their work with the group.
WP6 focuses on dissemination, exploitation and communication of results. In addition to the scholarly and policy outputs mentioned above and below, special emphasis was placed on engagement with and dissemination within the broader public. This took the form of articles in magazines and lectures for diverse publics, such as for example a lecturer on human rights for school children as part of the Kinderuniversiteit (Children’s University) event.
WP7 covered the management of the project. This was done in conjunction with the project supervisor, as well as with the help of the support staff from the host. As a major EU funded project, the management WP greatly contributed to the development of new skills and enhanced the career potential of the researcher.
This project has gone beyond the state of the art in several key ways. Firstly, it has provided the first history of Amnesty International from the perspective of its (largely global South) membership. This pushes forward the historiography of NGOs more broadly, which are generally investigated as European or Western entities, even when they are international organisations. In doing so, it makes a crucial contribution to the historiography of human rights. In this historiography Amnesty International is almost always included as an actor, but it is assumed to be a homogenous actor, one that plays a broadly supporting role to the diplomatic and state actors that dominate many of these histories. By showing the contingency of Amnesty’s internal workings, this project destabilises many of the assumptions underlying the field of human rights history. Furthermore, by reconceptualising human rights work as work that seeks to embed the concept in local struggles and contexts, it challenges previously dominant conceptualisations of both human right and humanitarianism as characterised by a ‘concern for distant others’. In doing so, it bridges the gap between human rights and solidarity.
The project has also contributed to policy making and civil society organizational knowledge, allowing or the development of informed best practice in the realm of international partnerships and internationalisation. It did so through running two talks at Amnesty International branches. These branches are very active in the broader international organisation, and the reflections on some of the challenges faced by members in the past connected to their current experiences. They were also give a copy of the policy briefing paper prepared as part of the project.
The project has also contributed to policy making and civil society organizational knowledge, allowing or the development of informed best practice in the realm of international partnerships and internationalisation. It did so through running two talks at Amnesty International branches. These branches are very active in the broader international organisation, and the reflections on some of the challenges faced by members in the past connected to their current experiences. They were also give a copy of the policy briefing paper prepared as part of the project.