The Role of International Organizations in Europeanization: The Case of the League of Nations and the European Economic Community

Abstract

Europeanization is a given of twentieth-century European history. At the level of social and economic history in particular, many studies emphasize an increased level of intra-European exchange, transfer and in some fields even convergence when compared to that of other centuries.¹ Very few published accounts, however, explore the role of international organizations in this process. This chapter will argue that some of these institutions have served both as agents and semi-public playgrounds for several forms and processes of Europeanization. The focus will not be on the economic, social or political impact on European societies of the various international agree-ments struck in these institutions. Rather, it concentrates on the organizations themselves as sites where knowledge was produced and as places where policies were developed. We argue that these organizations served as clearing-houses for intelligence, expertise and experience, and as hubs that generated, contained, stabilized and modified specific ‘European’ positions and mindsets, networks and policy outcomes.

We would like to thank Ulrike Lindner, Diana Panke, Kenneth Weisbrode and all the team members for their helpful remarks on earlier versions of this text.