Learning citizenship from the past: Textbook nationalism, global context, and social change

Abstract

abstractThis introduction to the special issue frames the essays that follow in both international and domestic political contexts. Treating textbooks as a key form of nationalist narrative, we analyze textbooks in five nations and controversies surrounding them for insights into ongoing battles over nation and citizenship. We argue, first, that changes in the global context, notably the end of the cold war, put new pressures on national narratives. International controversy erupts when those narratives do not mesh well with the newly envisioned future. Secondly, domestic social change also forces reevaluation of established stories of the national past because formerly subordinated groups demand inclusion of their perspectives, transforming the overall story in crucial ways. Sometimes, as when the “military comfort women” are mentioned in Japanese textbooks, those two forces combine to form a profound challenge to older versions of the Japanese national story, provoking further controversy.