Save the Children Fund (SCF) was at its foundation in 1919 a value-driven organization.
The values, or guiding principles, of the founding generation are the lens through which I look at the history of SCF, and the associated histories of war and peace, human rights and
NGO-state relations. These guiding principles are identified as universalism, utilitarianism
and optimistic pacificism. They can be understood as a paradigm to which the social
community which made up the founding generation of SCF gave their assent.
The first chapter locates the founding generation within the political culture of the anti-war
movement. Succeeding chapters detail the metamorphosis of SCIF from a'contentious
social movement into a respectable national organization. As soon as the organization
adopted a national rather than a universal orientation, the coordinates of all its guiding
principles shifted. In particular the optimistic pacificism of the founding generation was
replaced by pessimistic defencism. It was not until after the Cold War that SCIF began to
realign itself with its original guiding principles.
The three guiding principles are found to be of continuing relevance. Universalism has
been reasserted as a positive creed leading SCF to seize political opportunities to reach out
to children from all sides. The organization has adopted a utilitarian perspective that
affirms the dynamic role of young people in generating their own futures. Lastly, the
primacy attached to peace by war-affected people has underlined SCFs urgent mission to
uphold an optimistic belief in the possibility of peace. / Vera Steele Studentship in Peace Research
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/2813 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Sellick, Patricia |
| Contributors | Rigby, Andrew |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Department of Peace Studies |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, PhD |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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