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This essay traces the changing meanings of the term “anti-Semitism” from the late nineteenth century to the present. Focusing on Britain, it demonstrates that anti-Semitism, like any other concept, has a history—but in this case, one that remains largely uncharted. The essay draws a contrast between early usages of the term that regarded anti-Semitism as a specifically modern phenomenon and later meanings that have conceived anti-Semitism as a continuous and deep-seated malaise. Changes in...

This essay looks at the historical background of compensation payments, then considers the impact of World War II on reparations programs, the intellectual criteria for compensation developed by international bodies during the second half of the 20th century, and examples of state-level compensation after 1975 to individuals who were harmed by state actions. It concludes by considering the documents required to prove identity and prove the harm that gives rise to the right to compensation.

Beginning in 1946, the United States government immorally and unethically—and, arguably, illegally—engaged in research experiments in which more than 5000 uninformed and unconsenting Guatemalan people were intentionally infected with bacteria that cause sexually transmitted diseases. Many have been left untreated to the present day., Although US President Barack Obama apologized in 2010, and although the US Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues found the Guatemalan...

In family settings stories, photographs and memory objects support narratives of identity and belonging. Such resources are often missing for people who were in care as children. As a result, they may be unable to fill gaps in their memories or answer simple questions about their early lives. In these circumstances, they turn to the records created about them by social workers and care providers to reconstruct personal histories. Research suggests that thousands of requests to view records...

In 2019, there were over 75,000 children and young people in out-of-home care in England and Wales. Recent estimates suggest that up to half a million British people were in state or voluntary care as children, around 1% of the adult population. While individual experiences vary enormously by time and place, care-experienced people share in common the intensive documentation of their lives by social workers, educators, health professionals and associated practitioners. A complex, fragmented...

Recent reports by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) emphasised the critical importance of records throughout the lives of care-experienced people. Records not only contain information about what happened to a person in their past, but also have long-term effects on memory and identity. Research emerging in the context of analogous national inquiries into the systemic abuse and neglect of children in care—particularly the Royal Commission in Australia and the Shaw Report...

Our abiding commitment to the rule of law is the very bedrock of our civilization. It is what makes all else possible, from the flowering of the arts to the steady advance of the sciences. The idea that men must govern themselves not by the arbitrary commands of a ruler but by their own considered judgment, is the means whereby chaos is replaced by order. Balanced by the peaceful resolution of differences, the rule of law and the institutions of representative democracy are what stand...

Literary archivists in recent years have often taken an interest, and occasionally taken the lead, in projects which concern the multi-faceted topic of “archives at risk”. This essay reviews recent thinking and action on archives at risk, with special reference to archives which relate to cultural heritage, and describes practical responses in the three areas of documentary heritage at risk, the papers of dissident authors, and the challenging question of providing safe havens for archives at risk.

Records and archives containing information relating to grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law represent a fundamental source for, and can become trustworthy documentary evidence within, Dealing with the Past (DWP) processes including truth commissions, criminal tribunals, reparation programs, vetting processes and outreach projects. Those intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) working in the fields of...

In 1994, the European Monetary Institute (EMI) was established. Based first in Basel (Switzerland), and subsequently in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), the newly created institute was one of the most structurally significant outcomes of the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht and was intended to shepherd the creation of a new currency for the European Union - the Euro banknotes and coins - as well as to prepare for the establishment of the future European Central Bank (ECB). Unlike many other new...

El presente artículo tratará de aproximarse a las diversas formas de gestión de la información y su administración y a la capacidad de los Estados para controlar y vigilar el cumplimiento del respeto a la privacidad de las personas por parte de las empresas, tanto en sus propios negocios, como en su calidad de suministradoras de servicios en apoyo a la administración pública. Profundizaremos especialmente en cómo se utiliza la información de las personas y en qué medida la inexistencia de...

The implementation of electronic records management at the Council of Europe was a crucial step in leading the intergovernmental human rights organization towards comprehensive corporate information management. The motivation for introducing records management was to improve access to information. Finding information proved to be difficult due to the fragmented information landscape, combined with a lack of governance for digital information. To amend this situation, corporate control and...

A la mémoire de Cristina Bianchi (1957-2017), membre actif du groupe jusqu’à sa disparition prématurée en 2017, et de Louis Joinet (1934-2019) dont le soutien a été déterminant. La création de la Section Archives et droits de l’Homme du Conseil International des Archives est l’occasion de faire le bilan du travail accompli par le groupe de travail dont elle est issue et de tenter d’en évaluer l’impact. Les actions de sensibilisation menées depuis 2003 en direction des défenseurs des droits...

In 2019, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) celebrated 70 years of consultation, consensus and conflict prevention. The same year also marked 20 years since NATO first opened access to its archives to the public. The establishment of the NATO Archives in 1999 was hailed by then Secretary General Javier Solana as an important signal of the Alliance’s commitment to transparency and openness. NATO declassified and publicly disclosed thousands of documents and opened a dedicated...

This article describes the process of creation and discussion of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Records and Archives Management Policy, the first such policy ever issued by the Secretariat, after 25 years of existence. It outlines, firstly, the methodology followed to assemble and articulate the Policy, and its alignment with the standards and best practice followed by other international organizations; secondly, how the Policy was presented to different stakeholders and approved; and...

Seventy-five years ago (1945), the United Nations (UN) was founded in San Francisco by 50 nations. There, a small archives unit served to assemble the first records of the organization; this was the first iteration of today’s Archives and Records Management Section (ARMS). Throughout its history, the fortunes of the UN Archives have waxed and waned, while its role has continuously evolved. Trying to carve out a place for itself within the largest international organization in the world, its...