Technocratic Environmentalism in Socialist Science Diplomacy: Czechoslovak Geologists and the Evolution of the International Geological Correlation Programme (1972–1989)

This article examines how Czechoslovak geologists used the International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP) as a platform for advancing technocratic environmentalism through socialist science diplomacy during the late Cold War (1972–1989). Drawing on archival research and IGCP documentation, it analyses how these scientists leveraged their positions in non-governmental organisations like the International Union of Geological Sciences and the International Union for Quaternary Research to gain influential roles in UNESCO’s earth sciences programs, culminating in Vladimír Šibrava’s appointment as director of UNESCO’s Earth Sciences Division in 1981. The article traces the evolution of Czechoslovak influence from the programme’s inception, to increasing Soviet oversight after 1968, until its ultimate marginalisation by American technological paradigms in the 1980s. It is argued that Czechoslovak geologists contributed to emerging environmental geology concepts within international scientific contexts by promoting research on human-made environmental transformations and rational resource management – approaches widely discussed throughout the Eastern bloc and inspired by Soviet scientific and philosophical thinking.