The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the Research Group Reaching the People: Communication and Global Orders in the Twentieth Century through its Emmy Noether programme. The head of the research group, Dr. Valeska Huber, has recently arrived at the Freie Universität Berlin from the German Historical Institute London. In October 2018, she will be joined by two PhD students. In a range of projects, the members of the group will investigate the role of mass communication in the twentieth century. In their research, they explore how states and international organisations tried to reach broader sections of the population through new means of communication and how emerging global publics became sounding boards for political movements all over the world.

The field of global communication history has so far largely focused on the "hardware" of information infrastructures such as the telegraph and other technologies. Yet in the wake of the mobilization of the two world wars and in connection with the political transformations of the twentieth century, communication with new groups moved to the centre of political processes and debates in many parts of the world. At the same time the question how to control, direct and channel flows of information became a matter of increasing urgency in the age of mass politics. Connecting with present-day concerns, for instance regarding populism and the role of new media, the research group will study communication from a variety of perspectives, including top-down and bottom-up approaches. It will apply these perspectives a host of themes, from language, literacy and health campaigns to new audiences for political activism.

Two fully funded positions for PhD researchers are currently advertised via research group's website. The deadline for applications is 23. April 2018. In addition, members of the research group are interested to find out about researchers in related field at various stages of their career who might like to collaborate with the group in the future.