The content of school textbooks in (nation) states and “stateless autonomies”: A comparison of Turkey and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava)

Abstract

AbstractHighlighting the modernity of state institutions, Hobsbawm defines the nation as a modern territorial state (the nation‐state) and argues that nation and nationality cannot be discussed unless they refer to the nation‐state. Hobsbawm's conception of nations and nationality in the context of the nation‐state warrants readdress by comparing Westphalian models of states with subjects that do not attempt a territorial model but arguably still invest in the nation and a sense of nationality. This article compares the discourses of building nations and national identities fostered in the content of school textbooks in the Republic of Turkey—a modern, territorial nation‐state—and the Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria (hereafter Rojava)—an alternative state system model established in the power vacuum proceeding Bashar al‐Assad regime withdrawal from expansive territory in northern Syria. In doing so, the article revisits the existing literature on the correlation between the content and political associations of school textbooks through a comparative analysis of primary school course materials in Turkey and Rojava, neighbouring and conflicting political entities that occupy contrasting domains of statehood and military capacity.