Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-08T05:59:14.440Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

UNESCO and French cultural relations 1945–1970

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2009

William R. Pendergast
Get access

Abstract

Cultural expansion has been a major component of postwar French foreign policy. The creation and operation of UNESCO afforded opportunities for pursuit of French cultural relations. French authorities determined to secure the location of UNESCO in Paris, the privileged use of the French language, and to direct the organization towards activities with appeal to an international intellectual clientele. France also endeavored to divert UNESCO from paths detrimental to French cultural policy. These dangers included the creation of international norms and mandatory reports on bilateral cultural relations, adherence by UNESCO to a philosophy inimical to French cultural policy, and penetration by multilateral organs into areas of French cultural predominance. At the same time, France availed itself of UNESCO to supplement its independent actions, to infiltrate a French presence into new areas, to facilitate the operational conduct of cultural relations, and to diversify the conventional instruments of cultural action. Additionally, the French National Commission for UNESCO emerged as an agent for the conduct of French cultural diplomacy.

Type
Articles
Information
International Organization , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , Summer 1976 , pp. 453 - 483
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 See, for instance: Balous, Suzanne. L'Action Culturelle de la France dans le Monde (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1970)Google Scholar; Dollot, Louis, Les Relations Culturelles Internationales (Paris: Presses Universitaires de Fiance, 1964)Google Scholar; Dollot, Louis, La France dans le Monde Actuel (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1967)Google Scholar; Pendergast, William R., “French Cultural Relations,” Chronique dePolitique Etrangére, Vol. 27, No. 3 (1974): 339–56Google Scholar.

2 Pendergast, William R., “The Political Uses of Cultural Relations,” Il Politico, Vol. 38, No. 4 (12 1973): 682–96Google Scholar.

3 A biographical identification of French participants appears in Appendix I.

4 “France's Cultural Action Throughout the World,” French Affairs, No. 182 (08 17, 1965): 2Google Scholar.

5 The IICI served as the Secretariat for the League's International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC). The French government voluntarily formed, subsidized, and housed the IICI in the Palais Royal in Paris.

6 The establishment of UNESCO occurred during two conferences: the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education (CAME) met in London from 1942 to 1945; the London Conference which founded UNESCO sat during November 1945 in the British capital. Subsequently, a Preparatory Commission convened to recruit a Secretariat and to prepare a program for submission to the first General Conference. The politics of the creation of UNESCO is recounted in Pendergast, William R., “La Politique Étrangére Française et la Création de l'UNESCO,” Revue d'Histoire de la Deuxieme Guerre Mondiale, Vol. 96 (10 1974): 67–88Google Scholar.

7 UNESCO: 12EX/SR10 (1948), 4–5; 13EX/SR3 (1948), 14; 4GC/General Committee/SR3 (1949), 228; 4GC/General Committee/SR7 (1949), 239; 14EX/SR9 (1949), 4, 6.

8 60EX/SR15 (1961), 130.

9 2GC/General Committee/SR7 (1947), 352; 3GC/Sub-Committee on Education/SR2 (1948), 311; 7GC/Program Committee (1952), 463; 7GC/Plenary Conference/VR10 (1952), 145.

10 37EX/SR15 (1954), 79; 8GC/Program and Budget Commission (1954), 375; 59EX/SR3 (1961), 23; 12GC/PRG/SR12 (1962), 5; 8GC/Program and Budget Commission (1954), 375, 859; 43EX/SR23 (1956), 244; 9GC/Program Commission (1956), 467; 43EX/SR23 (1956), 244; HGC/Reports of Member States (1960), 57; 11GC/PRG/SR21 (1960), 8; 45EX/SR13 (1956), 86; 35EX/SR2 (1953), 7; 44EX/SR23 (1956), 244; 35EX/SR2 (1953); 7; 8GC/Program and Budget Commission (1954), 750; 43EX/SR11 (1956), 102; 62EX/SR21 (1962), 234–5.

11 66EX/SR27 (1963), 284; 71EX/SR32 (1965), 362; UNESCO/preparatory Commission/Social Science Commission/SR4 (1946), 4; 1GC/Sub-Committee on Mass Communication/SR5 (1946), 160; 35EX/SR2 (1953), 8; 37EX/SR21 (1954), 117.

12 8GC/Program and Budget Commission (1954), 375–6; 9GC/Program Commission (1956), 467; 62EX/SR15 (1962), 152; 63EX/SR9 (1962), 85; 71EX/SR30 (1965), 330.

13 16EX/SR3 (1949), 5. The regular UNESCO program and budget contains subject areas to which the departmental organization of the Secretariat corresponds. These activities are funded by ordinary budget appropriations. In addition, UNESCO accepted extraneous funds for activities not within its regular program.

14 7GC/Program Commission (1952), 329.

15 38EX/SR11 (1954), 69, 71.

16 42EX/SR26 (1955), 50; 42EX/SR11 (1955), 96.

17 UNESCO Document 14C/11 (1966), 6.

18 Observers of French society and culture have remarked the recurrent idea of “equilibrium” in French thought. See, for example, Hoffmann, Stanley, “Paradoxes of the French Political Community,” in In Search of France, by Hoffmann, Stanley et al. (New York: Harper & Row, 1965), p. 6Google Scholar. More pertinently, Michel Crozier perceived it as a conservative tendency in French bureaucracy. The Bureaucratic Phenomenon (London: Tavistock Publications, 1964) p. 257Google Scholar.

19 6GC/Program Commission/SR11, 338; also, Ibid., SR7 (1951), 315.

20 8GC/Program and Budget Commission (1954), 788; 8GC/Plenary Conference (1954), 109; 8GC/General Committee (1954), 294.

21 42EX/SR8 (1955), 66; 71EX/SR14 (1965), 141.

22 13GC/Plenary Conference (1964), 336.

23 8GC/General Committee (1954), 294.

24 15EX/SR1 (1949), 6; 15EX/SR3 (1949), 10; 38EX/SR4 (1954), 24–5; 38EX/SR5 (1954), 32; 4GC/Technical Assistance Sub-committee/SR1 (1949), 360; Ibid., SR3 (1949), 368–9.

25 Second plan quinquennal d'Expansion du Ministère des Affaires Ètrangeres (1964–1968), p. 5 (cited hereafter: Second Plan quinquennal).

26 Discussion of this aspect of French diplomacy appears in Pendergast, “La Politique Étrangère Française et la Création de l'UNESCO.”

27 UNESCO/Conseil Executif/2nd session/SR5 (1947), 7.

28 7GC/Legal Committee (1952), 838–9.

29 9GC/Program Commission (1956), 416.

30 UNESCO/Preparatory Commission/Letters and Philosophy Commission (1946), 5.

31 1GC/1st session/Documents: “Program of UNESCO. Comments by the Delegation of France. Letters,” by Jean Hytier (1946), 2.

32 61EX/SR20 (1962), 228.

33 3GC/Joint Sub-Committee on Cultural Questions and Natural Science/SR3 (1948), 317.

34 29EX/SR17 (1952), 228.

35 UNESCO/Conseil Executif/2nd session/SR12 (1947), 10.

36 2GC/Plenary Conference/VR18 (1947), 209.

37 3GC/Procedure Committee/SR6 (1948), 463.

38 4GC/Procedure Committee/SR5 (1949), 470; 5GC/Procedure Committee/SR2 (1950), 662.

39 “France's Cultural Action Throughout the World,” p. 4.

40 “The Role of the French Language Today,” Education in France, No. 16 (01 1962): 31Google Scholar.

41 Rapport d'Activité de la Direction Générale des Affaires Culturelles et Techniques (Paris: Ministère des Affaires Etrangeres, 1964), p. 5 (cited hereafter: Rapport d'Activité)Google Scholar.

42 “The Role of the French Language Today,” p. 31.

43 Detailed consideration of points in this section occurs in Pendergast, “La Politique étrangère française et la Création de l'UNESCO.”

44 CAME, Summary Records, 19th Plenary Session, July 1945, p. 3. See also: CAME, Summary Records, 35th session of Executive Bureau, No. 265, p. 3. Laugier probably was using the threat of possible Franco-Russian collaboration which had become a theme of French foreign policy since the December 1944 treaty.

45 See: Huxley, Julian. UNESCO: Its Purpose and Its Philosophy. Washington: Public Affairs Press, 1947Google Scholar.

46 Ranasinghe, AlexanderUNESCO's Cultural Mission: An Evaluation of Policies, Programs, Projects (New York: Carlton Press, 1969), p. xviGoogle Scholar.

47 “The Direction of Cultural Affairs in France,” interview with Basdevant, Jean in Education in France, No. 18 (05 1962): 4Google Scholar.

48 62EX/SR2 (1962), 12; 62EX/SR7 (1962), 65; 62EX/SR22 (1962), 239–40; 60EX/SR13 (1961), 105; 70EX/SR3 (1965), 15; 71EX/SR3 (1965), 25.

49 2GC/Program and Budget Commission/VR8 (1947), 356.

50 29EX/SR16 (1952), 213.

51 4GC/Program and Budget Commission/SR10 (1949), 300.

52 These French proposals were traded for American agreement to place UNESCO in Paris, as discussed earlier.

53 UNESCO/Conseil Executif/Second session/SR2 (1947), 8–9.

54 20EX/SR2 (1950), 2; 3GC/EX-HS/SR1 (1948), 8.

55 10EX/SR1 (1948), 17; EX/6CP/SR4 (1946), 13; 67EX/SR11 (1964), 94.

56 UNESCO/Preparatory Commission/P.V. 1 (1946), 2. This French effort to extend a hand to Russia was rejected by other states.

57 UNESCO/Conseil Executif/2nd session/SR7 (1947), 2–4.

58 12GC/PRG/SR17 (1962), 18; 13GC/PRG/SR31 (1964), 3–4.

59 12GC/PRG/SR17 (1962), 13.

60 These included the International Union of Students, the World Federation of Teachers' Unions, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, the International Organization of Journalists, and the World Council of Peace.

61 50EX/SR19 (1958), 198.

62 Rapport d'Activité (1965), 57.

63 3GC/Joint Program and External Relations Commission/SR4 (1948), 421; 8EX/SR2 (1948), 4.

64 56EX/SR32 (1960), 359.

65 11GC/DR/87.

66 11GC/Plenary Conference (1960), 124.

67 12GC/Plenary Conference (1962), 559.

68 Balous, p. 139.

69 Rapport d'Activité, Commission Française pour l'UNESCO, CN. 130 (1968), 11.

70 Chevalier, J-M, “Pour Une Doctrine Cohérente et Libérate d'Action Culturene, La Revue Administrative, No. 69 (05–06 1959), 285Google Scholar.

71 72EX/SR3 (1966), 47; 13GC/PRG/SR46 (1964), 6–13; 75EX/SR3 (1966), 23; 76EX/SR9 (1967), 104.

72 Rapport sur les Projets établis, par la Commission des Suggestions de Travaux, réunie à la Direction Générate des Relations Culturelles du 27 avril au 27 juin, 1945, presentee par Mme. Marie-Jeanne Durry, 4–5 (mimeograph, Ministére des Affaires Étrangéres).

73 14GC/PRG/S-CI/SR25 (1966), 7.

74 “The Role of the French Language Today,” 31.

75 5GC/Program and Budget Commission/SR22 (1950), 410; 6GC/Program Commission/SR10 (1951), 333.

76 67EX/SR15 (1964), 141; 71EX/SR32 (1965), 363.

77 8GC/Program and Budget Commission (1954), 470.

78 Rapport d'Activité (1959), 25; Ibid (1960), 26: Ibid (1961), 36.

79 Projet de Program d'Expansion en Cinq Am 1958–1961, Direction Générale des Affaires Culturelles et Techniques, Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, 6–7.

80 Rapport d'Activité (1963), 57.

81 Balous, 105.

82 50EX/SR23 (1958) 252–4.

83 Ibid.

84 56EX/9 Addendum (1960), 59.

85 Rapport d'Activité (1963), 40–1.

86 Rapport d'Activité, Commission Francaise pour l'UNESCO, CN. 121 (1967), 13–4.

87 Balous, p. 77.

88 2GC/Working Parties. H: Libraries and Documentation/SR1 (1947), 4.

89 10GC/Plenary Conference (1958), 168.

90 Rapport d'Activité (1958), 7.

91 Preparatory Commission/Mass Media of Communication Commission/SR3 (1946), 4.

92 1GC/Documents: “Program of UNESCO: Comments by the Delegation of France. Media of Mass Communication,” by Painlevé, Jean (1946), 1Google Scholar.

93 4GC/Program and Budget Commission/SR11 (1949), 310.

94 10C/DR/32.

95 Second Plan quinquennal, 12.

96 1GC/Program Commission/SR3 (1946), 129.

97 Rapport d'Activité (1963), 25.

98 Second Plan quinquennal, 12.

99 37EX/SR9 (1954), 46.

100 44EX/SR7 (1956), 62; 44EX/SR13 (1956), 126.

101 12GC/PRG/SR30 (1962), 19; 12GC/PRG/SC. ED/SR4 (1962), 5.

102 48EX/SR3 (1957), 28: 48EX/SR5 (1957), 38.

103 10GC/Plenaiy Conference (1958), 169.

104 62EX/SR10 (1962), 98.

105 Document 13C/8/Add. I.

106 14GC/PRG/S-CII/SR24 (1966), 6.

107 Balous, p. 85.

108 I develop this point further in my doctoral dissertation, “French Policy in UNESCO,” Columbia University, 1971Google Scholar.

109 On tutelage in France, and its expression in advisory bodies, see: Ridley, Frederick and Blondel, Jean. Public Administration in France (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969), pp. 70ffGoogle Scholar.

110 James Sewell points out that within UNESCO individuals from many countries have “hobbyhorses” which they ride from year to year (Sewell, James P., “UNESCO: Pluralism Rampant” in The Anatomy of Influence: Decision-Making in International Organization by Cox, Robert W. and Jacobson, Harold K., eds. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974), p. 173Google Scholar.

111 Keohane, Robert O. and Nye, Joseph S., “Transnational Relations and International Organizations,” World Politics, 27, No. 1 (10 1974): 39–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

112 26EX/SR1 (1951), 35.

113 Pendergast, “French Cultural Relations.” But there were indications of change during the mid-1960s.

114 The following section is developed more fully in my doctoral dissertation, “French Policy in UNESCO.”

115 13GC/ADM/SR21 (1964), 6; 14GC/ADM/SR17 (1966), 6.

116 14GC/ADM/SR17 (1966), 8; 76EX/SR7 (1967), 69.

117 President de Gaulle made an unusual personal visit to UNESCO Headquarters in November 1966 to celebrate its twentieth anniversary and dispelled some of the gloom which radiated from contemporaneous French negativism towards the UN.