Silencing the spirit of protest through ideological state apparatus in Bangladesh

• In Event: Poster Group 7
  In Poster Session: Silencing the spirit of protest through ideological state apparatus in Bangladesh

Proposal

Relevance to CIES 2024

The work, “ Silencing the spirit of protest through ideological state apparatus in Bangladesh” views the history and the trend of student protest pre and post-liberation war critically. The work is centered on how the government influenced curriculum throughout the years to dominate the narrative of “people-led protest” to a “one party-led protest”. This narrative eventually influences people’s thought process not to engage in any procession even in terms of asking for basic rights. The work connects with the CIES Subtheme 1- History of Protest and CIES Subtheme 2- Curriculum and Protest as it aims to dissect both the historical trend and traces of protest in the Bangladeshi curriculum.



Contribution to the existing work

In reviewing existing literature, the authors hardly found any contribution that analyzes the narratives of processions in the existing curriculum of Bangladesh, let alone critically. As the birth of a nation is rooted in the history of people-led protest, the authors believe it is necessary to understand how narratives of protest shifted and started to serve the purpose of the people in power. We believe discourses of protest are necessary for the academia of Bangladesh to pave the way for democratic representation of people of all stages.


Theoretical Contribution

The work aims to employ Louis Althusser’s concept of Ideological State Apparatuses(ISA). The current regime of Bangladesh, which has been in power for the last 15 years, had employed two curriculums for the primary and secondary school-going children. Both of these curriculums aim to strengthen the learning capacity of the students, but the narratives of protest in curriculum and textbooks highlight the contribution of one single party rather than the combined power of people. Through this work, we aim to understand how the ISA of a single party is presented in the curriculum and textbook and whether it is impeding the growth of democracy in Bangladesh.


Implications of the critique for future practice, policy, or theory

As the work aims to critically examine the traces of ISA in curriculum and textbooks in regard to the narrative of protests, it will pave the way for academic discourse on the development of a democratic curriculum. The findings of this work will enable academic practitioners and policymakers to take a deep dive into dissecting the existence of ISA of certain actors, and how to dismantle the grasp of such actors to truly democratize education for the people.


Contribution

In their exploration to find relevant literature on such topics, the authors found little to zero materials. The trend of curriculum and textbook analysis of this region is confined within the boundaries of a selected few areas, which too is defined by the ruling powers. The authors aim to break away from the trend first, and they hope to understand the traces of ISA will contribute towards giving back the voice of protest to the people, and pave the way for democratic education in Bangladesh.

Authors

• Md Rifat Hassan Liju, Penn State College of Education

• Moutushi Mahreen, The Pennsylvania State University