The politics of neutrality: UNESCO's Social Science Department, 1946-1956

Arbeitspapier

This essay analyzes the construction of "neutral" knowledge by the scholars (mostly psychologists, anthropologists and sociologists) who were members of UNESCO's Social Science Department between 1946 and 1956. Making use of recent literature on the politics of knowledge and using archive material, we try to clarify the postures between what we call "universalists" and "pluralists" in three of the major research projects that shaped the Department: the Tensions project, the race statements of 1950 and 1951, and the program of technical assistance. We make the case that both "pluralism" and "universalism" involved a great deal of political maneuvering and strategy to advance national or professional purposes, and that therefore, neutrality could only be apparent.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: CHOPE Working Paper ; No. 2011-08

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; History of Economic Thought since 1925: Other ; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
• Subject: International organizations ; UNESCO ; social science ; OSS ; wars ; technical assistance ; post-colonial world ; development ; race studies ; culture and personality studies ; India ; Japan ; neutrality ; politics of knowledge

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Rangil, Teresa Tomas
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Duke University, Center for the History of Political Economy (CHOPE)
• (where): Durham, NC
• (when): 2011

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/155443
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET