City Research Online

Abstract

By exploring the evolution of the International Shipwreck Society (ISS) – a previously neglected transnational humanitarian organization encompassing branches in every continent by the late 1830s – this article sheds new light on three key aspects of the development of global humanitarianism. First, through revealing how a secular humanitarian association with a global organizational structure was developed in the 1830s, the article challenges conventional assumptions with respect to when internationally organized humanitarian action became possible. Second, through exploring the influence of Chinese precedents in the ISS, the article reveals the importance in the development of transnational humanitarianism of previously neglected Eastern origins. Third, through evaluating the role of individuals in the evolution of the ISS, the article provides a more balanced perspective on the role of individual leadership in early transnational humanitarian organizations than has traditionally been put forward. In each of these aspects, the article provides a new perspective on the origins of global networks.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Davies, T. R. (2018). Rethinking the Origins of Transnational Humanitarian Organizations: The Curious Case of the International Shipwreck Society. Global Networks, which is published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/glob.12189. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
Publisher Keywords:	Transnationalism; Globalization; Global Civil Society; Cosmopolitanism; Governance; Networks
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs > International Politics The City Law School > International Law and Affairs Group
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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