ABSTRACT
Figure 4.1 Enlightenment, popular sovereignty and human rights 38 Figure 4.2 International instruments against slavery 1885-1930 42
Private societies dealing with social problems
The creation of issue-oriented NGOs, against slavery or poverty, began with small groups of citizens becoming aware of ethical and social problems. They combined their critical attitude with the assumption that part of the solution was to form societies and associations aiming to deal with these problems. This engagement resulted in group activities, organized by the associations and sometimes by the churches. The actions often included appeals to local or national authorities. The creation of societies, associations or committees in the UK from the mid-eighteenth century onwards was related to the emergence of ‘the polite society of gentry and nobility’ and the increased mobility made possible by advances in the design of carriages and improvements in the road system (Seary 1996, 17). The nineteenth century saw the rise of the middle classes and an increase in the number of people with the time, education and resources to take part in such societies and activities. Because several states had faced similar problems and their citizens had begun corresponding with each other about them, or had established other kinds of transborder contact such as visits, meetings or conferences, private transnational networks emerged. This development formed part of the transformation of nation-states into democracies, which was taking place against the background of the new ideas about popular sovereignty and human rights that were declared during the War of American Independence in 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789 (see Figure 4.1). The nineteenth-century European world grew smaller politically as the topics citizens engaged in were being discussed at multilateral conferences and in the press. This happened in an era that saw a substantial degree of peace, from 1815 until 1848 and from 1878 until the First World War. ‘For much of the nineteenth century it was possible to think of Europe as a continent where issues were pan-European and could be addressed in pan-European ways’ (Seary 1996, 18).
