International Organisations, Scientism and the Governance of Education

International organisations established within the post–World War II multilateral order have played a central role in establishing a worldview grounded in rationality and science, with profound and enduring consequences for education. Notwithstanding the idealistic underpinnings of the post-war era, the undue elevation of scientific methods and their uncritical extension to other social domains – a phenomenon conceptualised here as “scientism” – was a central feature of this epistemic shift. Drawing on critical and feminist scholarship, this article examines scientism as a central feature of postwar educational governance, arguing that claims to scientific objectivity and neutrality helped legitimise ideologically driven conceptions of modernity, rationality and economic growth. It further identifies military thinking as an important but underexplored influence on education governance. Through historical examples of postwar educational planning informed by military principles, the article traces how modes of thought originating in military research and planning entered the field of education, undermining its potential as an emancipatory project.