Since the years around 2010, a large part of the world has experienced – what nationalism scholars have described as – a fourth wave of neo-nationalism/nativism. Visible examples are the repeated successes of “xenophobic" or "immigration-critical" populist movements, or the result of the Brexit referendum (Bergmann, 2020). Not only has this trend given political parties with such agenda considerable influence in Europe, but also pathed the way for a nationalistic turn in many of the world’s great power (Norris & Inglehart, 2019).

My presentation is based on results from a close reading comparative study of some upper secondary textbooks in history and civics, published in recent years in Nordic Countries. The overarching question is how the last decades neo-nationalism is reflected in the texts. The theoretical and methodological approach is influenced by conceptual historian Reinhardt Koselleck – who perceived nationalism as a "basic concept" that could be understood with “concept-net” analysis (Koselleck, 2018; see also Berenskoetter, 2017).

The study aims to answer some partly interrelated questions: Is neonationalism/nativism at all described, an if so, does it appear as a controversial or an unproblematic issue in the texts? How is nationalism in earlier historical periods described? Are these descriptions connected with neonationalism, and if so, how?

The results tie in with the theme of the conference as they concern the impact of history and civic education to the students' ongoing “bildung”-processes in a globalizing world. I argue that neonationalism in this respect, and in line with Wolfgang Klafki´s theory, must be seen as an epoch-typical problem of our time (cf. Sjöström & Tyson, 2022, p. 217).

Comparisons between the teaching materials from the Nordic countries can also conceivably shed light on national historical-cultural dividing lines, which teachers and subject matter didactic researchers in the respective countries may have to deal with as a prerequisite for classroom activities.

Keywords: History and civic textbooks, Upper-secondary schools, Nationalism in a globalizing world

References

Berenskoetter, F. (2017). Approaches to Concept Analysis. Millennium, 45(2), 151–173. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829816651

Bergmann, E. (2020). Neo-Nationalism: The rise of nativist populism. Springer International Publishing.

Koselleck, R. (2018). Sediments of time: on possible histories. Stanford University Press.

Norris, P., & Inglehart, R. (2019). Cultural backlash: Trump, Brexit, and authoritarian populism. Cambridge University Press.

Sjöström, J., & Tyson, R. (2022). Didaktik för lärande och bildning. Liber.