Project description
A closer look at post-WWII humanitarianism
After World War Two, there was widespread devastation and urgent humanitarian needs. Amidst this turmoil, UN agencies emerged as key players in shaping a new global order, focusing on education, science, and environmental management. However, understanding the roles and contributions of the individuals within these agencies has proven elusive, hampering efforts to learn from their experiences and achievements. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the INCITE project embarks on a journey to illuminate the stories and endeavours of UN agency workers. Drawing from UN archives worldwide, it will create a database accessible to researchers, policymakers, and the public. The findings will enrich our understanding of humanitarianism’s evolution and its implications for global development.
Objective
The research aims to analyse the role of Unrra, Unesco and Fao in planning a new global order since World War II based on Education, Science and management of the Environment, looking at the expertise and proposals of their workers. The research will focus on the sustainable and inclusive vision of global development of those United Nations agencies during one of the worst historical catastrophes observing the international circulation of technicians, agents and scientists inside those institutions through a prosopographical study and their programs of relief. The project will contribute to the history of humanitarianism through a prosopographical approach instead of the usual institutional one. It looks at the stories of UN agencies’ workers to understand how they realise their principal mandates on a global dimension. Moreover, the research sheds light on the scientific and cultural heritage of the UN agencies’ global planning, humanitarian practices, and sustainable development projects. The objective is to understand their potential global contribution to two of the current political priorities of the European Union: “creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society” and “making Europe the first digitally-enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy”. Comparative use of United Nations sources in New York, Unesco archives in Paris and the Fao ones in Rome will produce the first global development planners and technicians database. The dataset shared on a web portal will collect biographical information about UN agency workers and their projects. The web-based research environment will be openly accessible to historians, social scientists, policymakers, stakeholders, students, teachers and a wider public, opening new possibilities in the analysis of humanitarianism and the World History of the 20th century and the production of sustainable and rightful public policies.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global FellowshipsCoordinator
00185 Roma
Italy