Discussion Guide: 'After all, it was Europe that made the modern world': Eurocentrism in history and its textbooks

Abstract

This booklet is based on the results of the research project ‘Race’ and Africa in Portugal: a study on history textbooks (see methodological attachment) carried out between September 2008 and February 2012. The project’s main goal was an interdisciplinary analysis of the (re)production of Eurocentrism in school history textbooks used at Key Stage 3 in Portugal (12 to 15 year olds), taking into account the contexts in which they are produced, disseminated and consumed. The analysis focused on the way in which Eurocentrism – as a paradigm for the production and interpretation of knowledge – naturalises the absence of African history and renders racism invisible. In order to disseminate the most relevant aspects of the research, we have summarised the project’s approach to the study of history textbooks and key ideas such as ‘race’, racism and Eurocentrism, with the aim of contributing to debates on education – and, in particular, the teaching of history – which is seen as reflecting and consolidating broader political, social, cultural and economic struggles. The project also considered aspects relevant to the definition of public policies, associated with curriculum guidelines, school textbooks and classroom practice, thus contributing towards establishing an anti-racist approach to education and learning about history.