About the Event
How can one write deep social and cultural histories of the work and life of International Organizations? Which methodological choices, theoretical framings, archival materials and interdisciplinary approaches are best suited to capture the everyday workings of international officials? And how does a historical enquiry that takes equally seriously the personal and the professional, the informal and formal, the improvised and the institutionalized, change our understanding of what IOs are and what they do? These are some of the core questions explored by INNER_LEAGUE (2025-30, ERC Consolidator Project).
The project aims to explore the communities, hierarchies and infrastructures of the League of Nations Secretariat (1919-1946), combining a social-bureaucratic approach, cultural history, new diplomatic history, biography, and NLP and digital prosopography. In this lunch seminar, Dr. Haakon A. Ikonomou (PI of INNER_LEAGUE) will present and discuss the overall design, long-term objectives and on-going work of the project.
The Guest Speaker:
Dr. Haakon A. Ikonomou is Associate Professor at the Saxo-Institute, University of Copenhagen and has a PhD in history from the European University Institute. He has published widely on the history of International Organizations, spanning the EU, the OEEC/OECD, NATO, the UN and the League of Nations.His particular interest lies in international bureaucracies and multilateral diplomacy. Ikonomou is coordinator of UCPH Geopolitics, co-director of HUM:Global, co-director of CHIOS, and co-chair of META-UN (4EU+ Alliance).
Programme
12:00
Lunch
12:10-12:15
Welcome remarks by Prof. Maja Janmyr, Project Leader of the BEYOND project, and Prof. Nina Reiners , Project Leader of the PROBONO project
12:15-12:50
Presentation by Dr. Haakon Ikonomou
12:50-13:00
Comments by Prof. Dag Michalsen co-leader of the research group Law, Society and Historical Change.
13:00-13:30
Open discussion and Q&A
Practical Information
This seminar will be held in English. We kindly ask that participants register in advance. The event is held on the 7th floor of Domus Juridica (Room 7227). If you do not have an access card, please reach out to elizabeth.couri@jus.uio.no when outside.
This is a lunch event and participants should indicate any dietary restrictions in the registration form.
Register here
Registration deadline is 24th of September.