Science Popularisation as Cultural Diplomacy in Cold War UNESCO (1946-1958)

Science Popularization as Cultural Diplomacy in Cold War UNESCO (1946–1958) highlights how, after World War II, science became a crucial tool in the reestablishment of international relations, but, at the same time, an open battlefield in which different nations and ideologies struggled for hegemony.

This book explores for the first time, the international science popularization programmes at UNESCO (1946–1958) as cultural diplomacy – that is, as cultural instruments aimed at promoting certain views of science to shape international relations. Through the historical reconstruction of UNESCO’s science popularization policies and practices in its early years, this collective volume analyses in depth the ambiguous diplomatic nature of science, places science popularization in the broader history of the cultural Cold War and unveils its profound political nature. It provides a fresh historiographic perspective on science popularization in its international and diplomatic dimension, as well as food for thought on the political role of science in the past, but also in our troubled present.

Science Popularization as Cultural Diplomacy in Cold War UNESCO (1946–1958) would appeal to students, scholars and historians – of science, politics or diplomacy – science communicators and all those interested in the international dimension of science.