Education and the Cultural Cold War in the Middle East: The Franklin Book Programs in Iran

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Description

The Franklin Book Programs (FBP) was a private not-for-profit U.S. organization founded in 1952 during the Cold War and was subsidized by the United States government agencies as well as private corporations. The FBP was initially intended to promote U.S. liberal values, combat Soviet influence and to create appropriate markets for U.S. books in Third World of which the Middle East was an important part, but evolved into an international educational program publishing university textbooks, schoolbooks, and supplementary readings. In Iran, working closely with the Pahlavi regime, its activities included the development of printing, publishing, book distribution, and bookselling institutions. This book uses archival sources from the FBP, US intelligence agencies and in Iran, to piece together this relationship. Put in the context of wider cultural diplomacy projects operated by the US, it reveals the extent to which the programme shaped Irans educational system. Together the history of the FBP, its complex network of state and private sector, the role of U.S. librarians, publishers, and academics, and the joint projects the FBP organized in several countries with the help of national ministries of education, financed by U.S. Department of State and U.S. foundations, sheds new light on the long history of education in imperialist social orders, in the context here of the ongoing struggle for influence in the Cold War.

Reviews

Ganjavi's meticulously researched and compellingly argued new book fills a crucial gap in our understanding of the "Cultural Cold War" as it powerfully scrutinises the decisive role of US soft power and cultural hegemony in the production and reproduction of the imperial mode of living. Moreover, its penetrating and laser-focused exploration of the vicissitudes of the Franklin Book Program are without parallel and prove indispensable to anyone wishing to ascertain a solid grasp of Iran's recent intellectual history. * Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerd, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK *
In a moment where the politics of education, books, and libraries are deeply contested, Ganjavis book provides an expansive account of The Franklin Book Programs in Iran. His sharp and sobering analysis provides a critical new understanding of the significance of education in the complex geopolitics of the Middle East during the Cold War. Ganjavi, through his meticulous archival research, unveils the less visible workings of US imperialism manifested through the complex networks and organizational structures that supported the translation of educational materials in the Franking Book Programs. For historians, activists, and others interested in Irans past, present, or future - this is mandatory reading. * Sepehr Vakil, Northwestern University, USA *

Author Bio

Mahdi Ganjavi holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, Canada. Ganjavis scholarly writings, essays, and reviews have appeared in the International Journal of Lifelong Education, Encyclopedia Iranica, Iranian Studies, Ajam Media, the Bullet, Global Voices, and the Review of Middle East Studies.