Three evils of citizenship education in Turkey: ethno-religious nationalism, statism and neoliberalism

Sen A.

CRITICAL STUDIES IN EDUCATION, vol.63, no.3, pp.307-322, 2022 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 63 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/17508487.2020.1761849
  • Journal Name: CRITICAL STUDIES IN EDUCATION
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Periodicals Index Online, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)
  • Page Numbers: pp.307-322
  • Keywords: Citizenship education, social studies education, national identity, nationalism, human rights, cosmopolitan citizenship, neoliberalism, textbooks, diversity, Turkey, HUMAN-RIGHTS, DIVERSITY
  • Eskisehir Osmangazi University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Relying on a theoretical frame developed in reference to an interdisciplinary research field, this article provides a critical analysis of Turkey's citizenship education (CE) curriculum with a view to revealing discourses that inhibit the promotion of cosmopolitan values of human rights, democratic citizenship and diversity. The analysis demonstrates that a complementary set of ethno-religious, statist and neoliberal discourses undermines the cosmopolitan values. The inharmonious patchwork of these two sets of conflicting discourses raises the question of whether CE in Turkey really empowers students to support democracy. This question reveals the significance of developing a CE curriculum underpinned by a consistent set of socio-political values in Turkey and elsewhere.