Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Photographs -- Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations -- Timeline -- Introduction -- The International Labour Organization -- Human rights, development and emancipation -- International organizations as historical actors -- International organizations and decolonization -- Prologue: Separate worlds - The ILO and "native labour", 1919-39 -- Mise en valeur, indirect rule and forced labour: colonial social policy between the wars -- The exception to the rule: the "Native Labour Code" -- Part I "A People's Peace in the Colonies", 1940-47 -- 1 "The Promise of a New Earth to Till": The ILO's Colonial Work in Exile, 1940-43 -- "The time may come shortly": the ILO in exile and the "native labour" issue -- "Native labour" in exile -- Tailwind -- In the shadow of war -- "A little less anonymity" -- Securing the colonial contribution to victory: the Atlantic Charter and the ILC in New York, 1941 -- On the side of the Allies -- The Atlantic Charter and colonial minimum standards -- The tide turns -- Colonial depression and the "people's peace" -- American scare -- Promises -- 2 A Charter for the Colonies: The Colonies at the Philadelphia Conference, 1944 -- A parallel operation: colonial reforms in the ILO's post-war planning -- Universalism in a colonial framework -- Social policy in dependent territories -- The pillars of the "people's peace" -- The pitfalls of reform -- Pious hopes? -- The ideology of victory: the colonial reforms of Philadelphia -- The "social conscience of mankind" -- "Make sure that they too will taste the sweet fruit of victory": colonial reforms in Philadelphia -- "Nothing can be done about it of course": the colonial powers in Philadelphia -- Colonial charter or imperialistic stereotype?.

3 A New World with New Ideas: The ILO and the Quest for a Colonial Post-war Order, 1945-48 -- "This is 1945!" The colonial principles of Philadelphia and the new international order -- The ILC in Paris, 1945 -- Universalism put to the test: the Social Policy in Dependent Territories (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1945 -- Paid holiday for the colonies -- Wage policy -- Growing impatience -- The ILO on the side of the West and the completion of the colonial reform programme of 1947 -- Finding a place in the new order -- The Conventions of 1947 -- Migrant labour -- Non-discrimination -- Freedom of association -- Towards a different ILO: Indian independence and the start of the post-colonial era -- Representation and regionalization -- From the colonial economy to underdevelopment: new demands on the ILO -- Part II The Tools of Progress: The ILO, 1948-60 -- 4 Principled Development: The Beginnings of the Technical Assistance Programme (TAP) -- David Morse and the origins of the TAP -- Too much in a groove -- "Available for maximum cooperation": the ILO and Truman's Point IV Program -- Acting on poverty's cry: technical assistance for underdeveloped countries -- "Help them move the ILO way": the ILO's integrated approach to development -- "Training, training, training" -- The other side of the coin: technical assistance and standard-setting -- The democratic road to modernization -- The successes and limits of the TAP -- The TAP as a political success story -- Between the past and the future: the post-colonial face of the TAP -- Colonial barriers -- 5 At Arm's Length: The ILO and Late Colonial Social Policy -- The lull after reform: the colonial work of the ILO in the first years under David Morse -- New initiatives -- The long road to Africa.

"Not the slightest inclination of willingness": the debate surrounding an African field office -- A new drive for change -- The ILO's arrival in Africa -- The experts' view: social policy in non-metropolitan territories from the perspective of the COESP, 1951-57 -- "Native" experts or "real" experts: Who should sit on the COESP? -- The COESP as a voice for the International Labour Office -- Qualified universalism: the findings of the COESP -- Migrant labour -- 6 Universal Rights? Standard-Setting against the Backdrop of Late Colonialism, Decolonization and the Cold War -- The ILO and human rights, 1945-60 -- Human rights and the integrated approach to development -- Human rights disputes -- The Penal Sanctions Convention: the last colonial standard -- The Abolition of Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1955 (No. 104) -- Discrimination in employment and occupation -- The Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) -- Forced labour -- Attempts to define a "normal" level of coercion: the Mudaliar Committee -- The Ruegger Committee and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) -- Freedom of association -- Failure to overcome the colonial double standard -- Tripartism under fire -- Asia as a test case and the "educational approach" -- Part III A Growing Conflict: Development, Human Rights and Decolonization, 1960-70 -- 7 A New Power: The ILO and the Growing Importance of the Developing World in the 1960s -- The ILO and the new majorities -- Pressure to reform -- Politicization -- "With us or against us": the ILO's South African crisis of 1963 -- Apartheid under fire -- The ILO in the balance: the ILC of 1963 -- "Stronger than before": the ILO after the crisis -- The social side of development: the TAP in the 1960s -- The ILO and the North-South conflict.

A social response to the crisis -- "First attempt at truly world-wide planning": towards a World Employment Programme -- New avenues for the integrated approach to development -- 8 An Intellectual Fashion: Human Rights Standards as a Barrier to Development? -- The good society: the ILO's norms after African independence -- A "question of honour" -- Development as a state of emergency -- The development offensive and coercion: the African youth labour service conflict -- Standards or development? The Office divided -- A positive concept of free labour -- "Harsh realities": Freedom of association after independence -- The ILO and the African trade union movement -- Pandora's box: tripartism under renewed fire -- Conclusion -- Appendix I: Selection of Important Conventions and Recommendations, 1930-70 -- Appendix II: Ratification of Core Human Rights Standards by Country and Date of Ratification (Selection) -- Notes -- Sources and Bibliography -- Index.