The mission UNESCO, as defined just after the end of World War II, is to build 'the defenses of peace in the minds of men'. In this book, historians trace the routes of selected UNESCO mental engineering initiatives from its headquarters in Paris to the member states, to assess UNESCO's global impact.

Adopting a social action perspective, this book is an assessment of where adult education now stands in the world. It argues that the purposes and rationale of adult education need to be reconceptualised for it to become an effective agent of change.