A paradigm of possibilities: the filmstrip in post-war education

Description

The AHRC-DFG “Relocating Filmstrips, Remapping Europe,” is tracing the overlooked role of filmstrips in the reconstruction of post-war Europe. This paper studies the international legacy of this reconstruction, arguing that the filmstrip is pivotal to exploring the conflicting global imaginations, or “Dream Spaces,” spurred by post-war audio-visual education. The paper here delineates the role of UNESCO’s (and related UN bodies’) audio-visual programmes in allowing Europe to retain soft power in (former) colonies and examines how these programmes shaped the educational policies of many post-colonial nations. Indeed, while the circulation of filmstrips in these nations was predicated on the superiority of Western and urban knowledge, the medium’s affordability and accessibility engendered grassroots participation and rural self-sufficiency – I take examples from Indian education here — that provided sites of resistance and alternative discourse. Ultimately, I contend that the filmstrip foregrounds the tensions between the intellectual inheritances of colonialism and the emerging post-colonial consciousnesses.

Period	4 Jun 2026
Event title	Audio-visual Media and the Global Dream Space
Event type	Conference
Location	London, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International