UNESCO Without Borders ─ Educational Campaigns for International Understanding

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was established in 1945 with twin aims: to rebuild various institutions of the world destroyed by war, and to promote international understanding and peaceful cooperation among nations. Based on empirical and historical research and with a particular focus on history teaching, international understanding and peace,UNESCO Without Borders offers a new research trajectory for understanding the roles played by UNESCO and other international organizations, as well as the effects of globalization on education.

With fifteen chapters by authors from cross-disciplinary and diverse geographical areas, this book assesses the global implications and results of UNESCO’s educational policies and practices. It explores how UNESCO-approved guidelines of textbook revisions and peace initiatives were implemented in member-states, illustrating the existence of both national confrontations with the new worldview promoted by UNESCO, as well as the constraints of international cooperation.

This book provides an insightful analysis of UNESCO’s past challenges and also indicates promising future research directions in support of international understanding for peace and cooperation. As such, it will be of key interest to researchers, postgraduate students, academics in the fields of international and comparative education, education politics and policies, and to those interested in the historical study of international organizations and their global impact. The book will also appeal to practitioners, especially those who conduct research on or work in post-conflict societies.

Aigul Kulnazarova is Professor of International Relations and International Law, School of Global Studies, Tama University, Japan. She specializes in international organizations, international relations, international law, human rights, global studies and history. Her current research is concerned with the politics of history education in East Asia and post-Soviet republics, human rights education, democracy and international relations in Asia.

Christian Ydesen is Associate Professor, Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Denmark. His PhD dissertation – from the Department of Education at Aarhus University and at the Centre for Educational Sociology, University of Edinburgh – is about the history of educational testing in Denmark, with a special emphasis on transnational connections and the impact of international organizations.