Special Issue: ‘Gender in Science Diplomacy beyond Global North and South’ (The Hague Journal of Diplomacy)

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy has published the Commission on Science, Technology and Diplomacy-sponsored special issue project. The forum issue, based on presentations at the STAND 3rd Conference, ‘Circulation and Exchange in Science and Diplomacy’, in July 2023, has been co-edited by Aya Homei and Janina Onuki.

Introduction

Gender in Science Diplomacy beyond Global North and South: From Pasts toward Empowered International Politics

Forum Articles

Luciana Vieira and Silvia Fernanda de Mendonça Figueirôa, ‘Turning Domestic Science Learning into International Cooperation Strategies: Branca de Almeida Fialho and the Maison du Brésil in Paris in the 1940s’

The Maison du Brésil is a residence built at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris in the 1950s. It was designed to host Brazilian and international students, researchers, artists, and professors during their exchanges with Parisian institutions. In this paper, we aim to understand the foundation of the Maison du Brésil as a result of efforts by Franco-Brazilian networks of scientists, professors, diplomats, and intellectuals, highlighting the role of non-traditional social actors and non-conventional places of knowledge production. Specifically, we aim to examine the role of the Brazilian feminist, educator, and physiologist Branca de Almeida Fialho, emphasizing how her scientific training, social background, political engagement, and professional trajectory contributed to the network that made the Maison du Brésil in Paris a reality.

Jing Zhang, ‘Chinese Women Diplomats in Science and Technology Diplomacy: Historical Narrative and Gendered Discourse’

This article examines how Chinese women diplomats in science and technology (S&T) construct their professional identities and public self-consciousness within the masculinized framework of S&T diplomacy and the historical narrative of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Employing historical narratology, gender studies and critical discourse analysis, this investigation examines intergenerational patterns to reveal how the CPC’s male-centric historical narrative – emphasizing heroism and Party leadership – shapes gendered power dynamics. While this narrative legitimizes women’s roles, it constrains their agency by embedding contributions within collective goals and male authority. Across generations, women anchor their careers in the CPC’s framework, attribute success to external leadership and conform to masculinized norms, with limited expressions of resilience. The article argues that gender is a foundational dimension of power in S&T diplomacy, underscoring the challenges of transcending masculinized constraints for women’s liberation and advocating for equitable diplomatic practices.

Gordon Barrett, ‘The Varying Visibility of Lu Gwei-djen and Dorothy Moyle Needham in Anglo-Chinese Scientific Relations, 1944–1972’

While there is a growing body of work on the role of scientists in international affairs, much of this research deals with professional and official interactions. This article argues that gendered personal and intimate dimensions are just as relevant, both for the actors involved and for external perceptions of them. It makes this broader point by focusing on the biochemists Dr Dorothy Moyle Needham and Dr Lu Gwei-djen, both of whom were deeply involved in international activities that helped to cement Dr Joseph Needham’s prominence as a key figure in twentieth-century Anglo-Chinese scientific relations. From their joint work for the Sino-British Science Cooperation Office during the 1940s through later engagement with the People’s Republic of China’s ‘people-to-people diplomacy’, the article demonstrates that gender-related questions of visibility and invisibility are vital to understanding the nature and contexts of science diplomacy.

Alice Naisbitt, ‘A Soft Power ‘Middle-Man’: Exploring the Gendered Nature of British Council Science Programmes in the First Development Decades, 1960s–1970s’

In the 1960s, the British Council – founded in 1934 by Foreign Office officials – established itself as a leading actor in Britain’s aid programme, thereby reconfiguring its relationship with the Global South. The Council’s development agenda emphasised science and education, enabling the organisation to advance British interests through actions we now may call science diplomacy. This represented a new form of paternalism rooted in Britain’s colonial history, where knowledge hierarchies and power imbalances were exerted. This article applies a gendered lens to these science programmes, examining how they both reflected and subverted traditional gender roles in both science and diplomacy. The Council’s science initiatives reinforced gendered divisions by excluding women from scientific and diplomatic spheres. However, by reconsidering feminist perspectives on soft power, the article suggests that the Council can be seen to perform a feminised form of diplomacy, similar to the role played by the ‘diplomatic wife’.