Institute of Development Studies

UN Ideas that Changed the World

On October 29th Professor Sir Richard Jolly gave the 2009 Dudley Seers Memorial Lecture. It was entitled ‘UN Ideas That Changed the World’ and was based upon his recent work on the intellectual history of the United Nations.

He began by reflecting on Dudley Seers’ approach and writings, encouraging the students present to read his work and commenting on its continuing relevance. In particular Seers was sceptical of GDP as a meaningful measure of development, preferring instead to look at poverty rates, inequality and unemployment. Only if these three indicators were improving could development really be said to be taking place, according to Seers. 

Jolly then went on to discuss his UN project. Most histories of the UN have focussed on its organisational structure; however, he sees ideas as being the most important work of the United Nations, hence his study of this area of its legacy.

Jolly listed nine ‘ideas that changed the world’, all of which originated at or were promoted by the UN. The list included human rights for all; gender equality and women’s rights; development goals; fairer international economic relations; strategies for accelerating development in poorer countries; priorities for social development; environmental sustainability; peace and human security; and human development. Though many of these are well-accepted and seem obvious now, several were quite controversial when they first emerged.

 Jolly noted that at the time of the signing of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the US still practiced racial segregation in many areas (meaning some delegates at the conference from African countries were unable to be served at local restaurants), and the UK still had its empire. Development goals as a concept began with education-related targets in the 1960s, and are now encapsulated in the UN Millennium Development Goals, which have dominated development and aid planning since their inception.

The ‘fairer economic relations’ is connected to the Prebisch-Singer thesis which explained for the first time how international terms of trade are biased against primary commodities, the main exports of developing countries – another controversial idea that has since found more widespread acceptance. The last idea on Jolly’s list, ‘human development’, finds expression in the yearly UN Human Development Report, and provides a frame for all of the other issues discussed. All of these concepts have evolved since their inception and will continue to do so as they gain wider acceptance.

Jolly discussed the ways in which ideas such as these gain global influence. The most important factors were, he felt, that they challenge the way issues are perceived; for instance, the change in framing that has occurred over the past few decades from talk of ‘environmental protection’ to ‘climate change’. An idea might redefine state and non-state interests in such a way as to change motives for action; or help to mobilise coalitions of civil society actors to press for change. Finally, an influential idea is likely to become embedded in institutions which will monitor progress.

Professor Jolly did not gloss over criticisms of the UN, and laid out what he saw as its most significant failings. These include a late and inadequate reaction to the ‘Washington consensus’ and the structural adjustment programmes that were enacted as part of it; a weak response to the needs of the least developed countries; not enough effort to include cultural aspects of development; a ‘tardy and weak’ reaction to the global development challenge presented by HIV and AIDS; and not enough attention paid to inequality, both nationally and internationally.

However, he concluded that the UN has had a net positive effect on the world; some of its most notable successes being the promotion of human rights for all; setting global goals for development; ‘quantifying the world’ through such measures as GDP; helping create policies that promote development at the same time as poverty reduction; bringing issues of global warming and climate change to greater prominence; and promoting preventative diplomacy and human security.

Related Audio

Related Publications

• Jolly, R, Emmerij L and Weiss, T.G (2005) The Power of UN Ideas: Lessons from the First 60 Years, New York: United Nations Intellectual History Project Series