Russian internal narratives about the “Western enemy” as a barrier for reconciliation: the example of school history textbooks

International audienc

The politics of the new history school textbooks in the Russian Federation

The chapter examines the ideologically articulated shifts, the images of transformation, and the nation-building process presented in the new generation of school history textbooks in Russia. It analyzes the new content of postSoviet history textbooks used in Russian secondary schools that represents various transformations from communism to a Western-style democracy. It discusses the resultant issues of searching for a new national identity and citizenship during the present transitional period. It critiques the new versions of Russia’s postSoviet history taught in schools, and evaluates their officially defined status as instruments in the Russian process of ideological transformation, and nation-building, currently closely monitored by the state. In other countries, including Australia, these processes are still present but in less formal and more ad hoc ways