19. Dezember 2019 / Forschung

International Workshop at Waseda University

“Multilateralism and Global History” was the topic of an international workshop at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. The event, which took place on 25-26 November 2019, was organized by Toshiki Mogami, Professor of International Law and Organization at Waseda University and Visiting Professor at the Institute for European Global Studies. Madeleine Herren-Oesch, Toshiki Mogami, Ralph Weber, Atsushi Shibasaki, and Cornelia Knab were among the speakers.

About the Workshop:
The invitation to the international workshop at Waseda University was the result of an existing collaboration with Prof. Toshiki Mogami, Visiting Professor at the Institute for European Global Studies since 2017. Prof. Mogami, who is collaboration partner in the SNSF-project The Divisive Power of Citizenship, is the contact person for the cooperation between Waseda University’s School of Political Science and Economics and the Institute for European Global Studies.

The workshop introduced new approaches towards an interdisciplinary understanding of multilateralism. It consisted of two parts: During its first day, the participants engaged in roundtable discussions, focusing on different aspects of multilateralism and global history in theory and research practice. Papers in the panels focused on numerous questions connecting historical and present aspects of understanding multilateralism: Toshiki Mogami used his paper to ask about “A multilateralistic turn?: Not a ‘neutral’ notion named multilateralism”. Madeleine Herren-Oesch focused on “Globalization and 19^th century multilateralism: mismatch or convergence for the 21^st century international system?”, while Ralph Weber’s talk was entitled “Multilateralism with Chinese Characteristics: Towards ‘A New Type of Great Power Relations’”, and Cornelia Knab explored “Global disease history and multilateralism: changing paradigms”.

On day two, a series of open lectures started with Ralph Weber’s talk on multilateralism in the context of the Chinese New Silk Road in light of the Power of Connectivity. Madeleine Herren-Oesch explored Public International Unions with view to the question whether they can be regarded as the first generation of IGOs. Cornelia Knab used the lecture to ask about new pathways to explore global history and multilateralism in context of infectious disease control in a historical perspective (“Global Circulation and International Interventions”).

About the Participants:
Toshiki Mogami is Professor of International Law and Organization at Waseda University, Tokyo as well as a Visiting Professor at the Institute for European Global Studies. His research covers a wide area of topics, ranging from the law and institutions of the United Nations system, to the theory of international law. Recently, he has been deepening his interest in the history of international law and that of international organization.

Madeleine Herren-Oesch is Professor of Modern History and the Director of the Institute for European Global Studies. While her fields of expertise cover 19th and 20th century history, her historiographical approach examines history through its strong connections to the contemporary world in its multilayered, global dimensions.

Ralph Weber is Professor for European Global Studies at the Institute for European Global Studies. He specializes on Political Theory, Chinese Politics and modern Confucianism. Currently, he is the President of the European Association for Chinese Philosophy and the Chair of the Section on Political Theory in the Swiss Political Science Association.

Cornelia Knab is research associate in European Global Studies as well as scientific manager of the Institute for European Global Studies. Her research interests include European and global history (especially nineteenth and twentieth century), the history of internationalism and of international organizations, and the history of epidemics, epizootics and of veterinary medicine.

Further Information: