[ecrea] New book on the history of ITU (International Telecommunication Union)

New book on the history of ITU (International Telecommunication Union)



A new book on the transnational history of telegraphy written by 
Gabriele Balbi with Simone Fari, Giuseppe Richeri and Spartaco Calvo has 
just been published by Peter Lang. This book uses new sources to indepth 
the early history of the Telegraph Union (today the International 
Telecommunication Union - ITU) and focuses on the key role – political, 
diplomatic, economic and technical – Switzerland played in promoting its 
birth and managing its structures during the ten years preceding and 
following its creation (1855-1875). The history of the ITU tends to be 
neglected in telecommunication history and the role of Switzerland in 
its formation and management has been largely overlooked. This is 
surprising for three reasons: first, it was (and still is) the seat of 
the Bureau; second, until World War Two the secretary was a Swiss 
national; finally, the Bureau was under the direct control of the Swiss 
government. The main statement of this book is that the political 
economy of Switzerland, based on neutrality, diplomacy, internationalism 
and technical expertise, exerted a decisive influence over the origins 
of the ITU. Flyers, extracts, and table of content can be downloaded 
from this website: 
http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=81426&cid=539. 





Gabriele Balbi, PhD

Assistant Professor in Media Studies

IMeG – Institute of Media and Journalism

Faculty of Communication Sciences

Università della Svizzera italiana, USI

Via G. Buffi 13

CH - 6904 Lugano

(e) (gabriele.balbi /at/ usi.ch)

(w) http://www.usi.ch/personal-info?id=925

(w) http://unisi-ch.academia.edu/GabrieleBalbi

(t) +41 (0)58.666.4729



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