Globalisation, Ideology and History School Textbooks: The Russian Federation

Abstract

The chapter analyses the nexus between ideologies, the state and nation building, as depicted in historical narratives of current history school textbooks. The chapter examines the issue of national identity and balanced representations of the past in the content of history textbooks. The chapter evaluates secondary history teachers’ responses and demonstrates that there has been a definite ideological shift in the interpretation of historical narratives and significant events, both in the content of prescribed textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education and teachers’ attitudes and values towards the core textbooks they use in teaching. Both teachers responses and current government policy on the history national curriculum, where the key aim is to infuse patriotism and national identity during history lessons, and Putin’s recent push for a single-core Russian history textbooks signal a pronounced exercise in forging a new identity, patriotism, nation building and a positive reaffirmation of the greatness of the present Russian state.