ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the UN's effectiveness has prevented some scholars from understanding the organization's actual past. Institutions canalized internationalism during the twentieth century – they did not define it. This claim organizes From the League of Nations to the United Nations, and situates the volume within a burgeoning literature about international society. Claiming to speak for millions, Tagore and Sun Yat-sen similarly rejected the hubris of European power, but they approached internationalism differently, with the former pushing for greater equality in an interdependent age and the latter emphasizing autonomy, so China could pursue an independent path abroad. Passing resolutions gave leverage to women's organizations as they lobbied national governments for gender equality, and it lent credibility to children's groups as they competed for donations and influence in Europe and North America.
