Nationhood and Politicization of History in School Textbooks Identit
"This book offers a comprehensive and thoroughly researched analysis of politicization of history in school textbooks in South-East Europe. It successfully combines primary empirical research with valuable theoretical insights and in this way provides a u
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Nationhood and Politicization of History in School Textbooks “Since the 19th century history textbooks have been used as powerful tools of the nationalist socialisation of young people. The ministries of education of most European states were eager to use the teaching of national history as a device of social control aimed at inculcating a nationalist ethos among the generations of young people. In this context, history textbooks were dominated by one-sided and stereotypical narratives where one’s own nation was regularly depicted in terms of heroic victimhood and moral superiority while other nations assumed the role of passive bystanders or immoral aggressors. After WWII many European historians in the West led initiatives to change these stereotypical depictions and to decouple the teaching of history from politics. At the same time much of Cold War Eastern Europe retained traditional heroic narratives where nationalism was now amalgamated with the state socialist ideology. With the collapse of Soviet bloc countries and Yugoslavia, the writing and use of history textbooks became even more politicised as the new regimes were keen to establish their legitimacy through nation-centric interpretations of the past and present. The onset of war in former Yugoslavia strengthened the hegemony of ethno-nationalist understandings of history. This book offers a comprehensive and thoroughly researched analysis of politicisation of history in school textbooks in South-Eastern Europe. It successfully combines primary empirical research with valuable theoretical insights and in this way provides a unique comparative look at all new states that have emerged after the break-up of Yugoslav federation.” —Siniša Maleševi´c, University College Dublin, Ireland “This book is not only necessary reading for students of South East Europe after the break-up of Yugoslav federation, it also offers important insights about the rise of populism and nationalism in various parts of the world. Anyone who is interested in countries that are perpetually in a state of ‘frozen conflict’ can learn much about cultural and social mechanisms behind conflicts and develop proactive methods of protecting human rights by reading this insightful and thoroughly researched book.” —Idil Eser, Former General Secretary of AI Turkey
“The book offers an original contribution to the field. To my knowledge there is no other study of this kind concerning history textbooks in ex-Yugoslav successor states, considering not only the current situation, but also the tensions in constructing a common past based on the former common nation (Yugoslavia) vs. current intentions to construct different nationalities… The book deal with various controversial topics related to the tensions between different national and ethnic groups, but they are presented very carefully and professionally throughout the book.” —Alicia Barreiro, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Argentina “This book makes a valuable contribution to scholarship on the way history has been presented in t
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