Full Description
In the first independent study of the League of Red Cross Societies, an interdisciplinary team of leading scholars examine its history, and how it influenced twentieth-century humanitarianism. They explore how the League evolved from 1919 to 1991 as a peacetime organisation of the Red Cross in contrast to the original wartime focus of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Investigating largely unknown, but significant actors, they shed new light on the League's activities in Southeast Asia, the Horn of Africa, Latin America and Europe through case studies focussing on its global health initiatives, the complexity of its networks in war and peace, and its role in providing relief. The authors argue that it is impossible to understand today's Red Cross and Red Crescent movement and global humanitarianism without considering the structures, expertise and training provided by the League to member National Societies from 1919 to 1991.
Contents
Introduction: the league of red cross societies: per humanitatem ad pacem; Part I. Disruption of the Red Cross Ecosystem: 1. 1919 - Rebirth; 2. 1946 - Recalibration; 3. 1975 - Reflection; Part II. Global Health Initiatives: 4. Coordinating global action against venereal diseases in the interwar period; 5. The league's international nursing programme in the 1920s and 30s; 6. The junior red cross, youth and disability; 7. The promotion of voluntary blood donation; 8. The league and the WHO in global public health; Part III. A Peacetime Organisation in War: 9. The league at war; 10. Latin America, regionalism and strategies for survival, 1939-45; 11. The nursing bureau missions to Latin America in the 1940s; Part IV. Providing Relief and Building Capacity: 12. Development in the Global South; 13. The league in South-East Asia during the cold war, 1950s-1970s; 14. Re-evaluating red cross relationships and famines in Africa, 1970s and 1980s; 15. Turning the red cross green: the league and environment in the 1970s; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.
