It’s often said that history is written by the victorious, and whilst I’m sure that historians do try and teach events from a range of perspectives, it’s unquestionable that some narratives do dominate our impression of events.

A recent study from Stanford’s Graduate School of Education explores how human rights and collective social movements are covered in school textbooks since World War II.  The analysis of over 500 high school textbooks from around the world set out to explore how social movements are portrayed.

What was interesting however was the way so many textbooks seemed to confine the scope of social movements to the past.  In other words, they frame them as being struggles that have largely concluded rather than carrying through to the present day.

Growth in social movements

There has been a general growth in social movements since World War II, but there has generally been a lack of understanding as to how these have been incorporated into school curricula.

The analysis found that human rights, which belong to individuals, have begun to be seen as universal, whereas social movements, which focus more on the collective rights of specific groups, are often more involved in challenging existing power structures on behalf of minority groups.

“The collective nature of social movements makes them contentious because they can put groups in conflict with each other, as well in conflicts with the state,” the researchers say.

They suggest this core distinction may explain why social movements are often relegated to the annals of history, as they encourage us to perceive the struggle as ended and the challenges overcome.  In a way, it’s almost like the state is discouraging further exploration of the injustices that persist into the present day.

Finite events

The authors cite the civic rights movement of the 1960s as a prime example, with textbooks often framing the struggle as largely concluded, with students asked to explore rights they have today that they wouldn’t have had then.

In total, over 500 textbooks from 80 countries were analyzed during the research, with the researchers keen to explore just how much textbooks were being used to promote both good and bad behaviors.

“There’s a basic assumption that the content of textbooks matters, both because it reflects predominant assumptions of what’s considered legitimate or important, and also because it tells students that something is a legitimate narrative,” the researchers say.

The study also allowed the team to gain insight into the way human rights and social movements were covered in textbooks around the world.  For instance, the women’s movement was not very frequently covered in the Middle East, whereas East Asian textbooks would often discuss the environmental movement.

The hope is that the research raises awareness of the different ways textbooks are used to discuss such crucial events, and what this tells us about our society and the role civics education plays in it.

“That in itself would be a big shift,” the researchers conclude. “Some of the biggest changes in the world have happened through social movements and collective action.”