Rebranding Gandhi for the 21st century: science, ideology and politics at UNESCO’s Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGIEP)

This paper analyses the development of UNESCO’s Mahatma Gandhi Institute on Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), examining its record from global, national and institutional perspectives. The global perspective encompasses challenges to UNESCO’s attempts to articulate a distinctive, humanistic vision in competition with other multilateral bodies. The national perspective relates to India, which hosts MGIEP, provides the bulk of its funding and exerts significant influence over its governance. Consideration is also given to the relationship between MGIEP’s work and Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas. Finally, the institutional perspective relates both to the author’s own experience with MGIEP, and to information gained through interviews with others involved with the institute. It is argued that MGIEP’s story illuminates challenges to attempts, within India and internationally, to sustain a humanistic vision of education in the face of powerful countervailing interests.