Overview
- Examines the League’s works in several social and technical issues in East Asia
- Considers the League’s activities in connection with other developments in the international relations in East Asia
- Uses abundant primary and secondary Japanese language sources which have been underused
Part of the book series: New Directions in East Asian History (NDEAH)
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Table of contents (11 chapters)
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The League of Nations as Forums and Actors
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Contested Power and Authority
Keywords
About this book
Well-grounded on abundant Japanese language sources which have been underused, this book uncovers the League of Nations’ works in East Asia in the inter-war period. By researching the field of social and other technical issues, namely, the trade in narcotics, the trafficking of women and the work in terms of improving health provision and providing economic advice to Nationalist China, it not only examines their long-term impacts on the international relations in the region but also argues that the League’s works challenged the existing imperial order of East and Southeast Asia. The book offers a key read for academics and students of international history and international relations, and others studying Japan or East Asia in the twentieth century.
Reviews
“This is a meticulously researched work based largely on primary archival sources. The use of sources … presents the perspective of governmental and League actors. In doing so, Goto-Shibata shows not only the immense influence that Western powers … had on the League’s technical work in Asia but also the sympathy of League officials towards the countries they operated in. … the book is a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the League’s work, especially in China, which offers historians many valuable insights and starting points for further research.” (Thomas Gidney, Connections, October 28, 2022)
“Harumi Goto-Shibata is … interested in the practices and the actors constituting the fabric of international order, including the work of international civil servants, cooperation with national authorities, and the importance of conferences and forums. … Goto-Shibata focuses on how the League of Nations promoted international cooperation in East Asia; she stresses the importance of ‘social and humanitarian works,’ among others in China, which have been neglected by other historians working on the region … .” (Quincy Cloet, Diplomatica, Vol. 4 (2), August, 2022)
“This book is a valuable contribution to the scholarship on the League, which is enjoying a significant renaissance … . In fact, the most growing area in this ‘new history’ of the League is its social affairs. ‘Social and technical issues’ which this book deals with are: opium (and dangerous drug) control, technical cooperation … and trafficking in women. … And it has a distinct value because many of these works still focus largely on Euro-American contexts.” (Tomoko Akami, The East Asian Journal of British History, Vol. 8, 2021)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Harumi Goto-Shibata is Professor of International History at the Department of Advanced Social and International Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Japan. Her prior publications include Japan and Britain in Shanghai, 1925-31 (Macmillan, St Antony’s series, 1995) as well as three single-authored books, and two co-edited books in Japanese.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The League of Nations and the East Asian Imperial Order, 1920–1946
Authors: Harumi Goto-Shibata
Series Title: New Directions in East Asian History
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4968-7
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-15-4967-0Published: 03 July 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-981-15-4970-0Published: 03 July 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-981-15-4968-7Published: 02 July 2020
Series ISSN: 2522-0195
Series E-ISSN: 2522-0209
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 295
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: Modern History, History of Japan, History of China, International Relations, Imperialism and Colonialism