News, recent activites and insights and ideas around Archives and SCI history

07.11.08: Thesis on Alternative Service (2008-11-07)

Les Ormont 1924

Recently a thesis on SCI was published at university of Fribourg. Karin Jenni student in history investigated the last two years the SCI engagement for an alternative service for conscientious objectors which is linked to the SCI history from the beginning.
After first work camp in 1920, the SCI founder Pierre Ceresole got into a political campaign to establish an Alternative Service in Switzerland. In order to support the campaign Ceresole organised 1924 a workcamp in Les Ormont, in order to clean farmland after an avalanche. He invited conscientious objectors to work there in order to prove that alternative service is feasible. Although the the parliament eventually decided against any kind of alternative service, the concept of alternative service remained in SCI as political program.
Karin Jenni analyses in the 150 pages study the role of politics within SCI and in particular the position towards the army. She describes in detail the activities SCI developed in the last 80 years for the promotion of alternatives service. By this she outlined the character of a SCI workcamp, that interfere between utopian and realism: a peace service.

The thesis, written in German language, is available in SCI Archives. On demand a PDF-Version can be orderd.

19.09.08: Archives East-West Coordination (2008-09-19)

The Archives LTV Tatyana of last winter returned for one month to Switzerland, in order to continue to file archives.
This time she worked on the files of East West Coordination in the 80s and 90s which came from GATE office in Bonn (1971-1997) and Poznan (1998-2004). The section was extended by 7 boxes, around 0.7m documents. Some example of new files included:
- Baltic Sea Campaign
- Files & reports of seminars and study tours
- Cooperation with North/South Exchange
- Documents from Partner Organisations in Yugoslavia, GDR and other countries [done 2005-2007].

With this last extension the files of East/West Coordination SCI Archives covers now widely the history East-West Exchange from 1950 till 2000. However there are some gaps missing in the documentation. E.g. the beginning of some Eastern SCI initiatives like Poland or Hungary. But also some photos from workcamps in Eastern Europe in the 70s, 80s and 90s would be nice.

Link: Archives of SCI East/West Coordination

30.08.08: The SCI Archives Exam (2008-08-30)
This year already is 4th SCI Summer University was organised in order to offer volunteers background knowledge in peace work of SCI.
Usually university has also exams besides lecturs and seminars. SCI Archives, place of immense information on SCI, likes to contribute therefore this year the exam for the SCI university ;-) .

The SCI Archives Exam*

1) Which was the name the SCI used in the first workcamp in Esnes (1920)
[ ] Mouvement vers une Internationale Chrétienne
[ ] Service Civil International
[ ] Groupe de Service International
[ ] Service Civil Volontaires International
[ ] Service Volontaires International

2) When was SCI founded?
[ ] July 1920 in Bilthoven, Netherlands
[ ] November 1920 in Esnes. France
[ ] August 1931 in Zurich, Switzerland
[ ] November 1932 in Berlin, Germany
[ ] November 1932 in London, Great Britain
[ ] April 1949 in Bièvres, Paris

3) Which branch or group of SCI was dissolved
[ ] Thailand
[ ] Algeria
[ ] Italy
[ ] Denmark
[ ] Austria
[ ] Pakistan
[ ] Israel
[ ] Czechoslovakia

4) Put in a row by numbers 1-8 the place of S from 1948 - 2008
___ Alpe di Bodio (Switzerland)
___ Antwerp (Belgium)
___ Bangalore (India)
___ Canterbury (Great Britain)
___ Bonn (Germany)
___ Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
___ Paris (France)
___ Zurich (Switzerland)

5) Why there is not other SCI branch or group in Africa? Give one reason
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

6) What is the meaning of the following SCI abbreviations
CCYMSC __________________
CAAL __________________
ARTS __________________
IDM __________________
SEC __________________
WIN __________________
IAC __________________

7) Give name of branch newspaper (e.g. VIA Netherlands = Via de Via)
Norway __________________
Catalonia __________________
Poland __________________
Great Britain __________________
France __________________
Finland __________________
India __________________
Germany __________________

8) A branch have different roots in civil societies. Give one example of an branch which had the following roots.
environmental ngo(s):
former a socialist youth organisation:
____________________________________
by long term volunteers:
____________________________________
by the British branch:
____________________________________
by local authorities:
____________________________________

9) SCI is a long-standing organisation over 80 years with many things that changed. But some things stayed the same: Give on example
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

*This exam was part of presentation of SCI Archives at IEC meeting in Zurich. Send your answers to SCI Archives. Please feel free to use SCI Archives to find the answers. Interesting prices out SCI Archives are offered.

30.08.08 / Philipp Rodriguez