Social Studies Education and National Identity in Turkey

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Affect and Identities in Social Studies Education

Abstract

Inclusive national identities are underpinned by the values of liberal democracy and human rights, while exclusive ones emerge from ethnic or civic nationalism. Social studies education should in theory promote an inclusive notion of national identity. This qualitative inquiry explores whether the promoted notion of national identity in Turkey’s social studies textbooks facilitate democratic citizenship. The analysis drew on the conventions of critical discourse analysis by focusing on how the linguistic features of the text relate the power structures in the broader society. The study found that the promoted notion follows an ethnic-genealogical model which casts Islam as an inseparable part of national identity. This notion is likely to alienate especially non-ethnically Turkish and non-Muslim students and impede democratic citizenship.

Author

• Abdulkerim Sen, Eskisehir Osmangazi University