History as the boundary between us and them : A study of historical uses and othering in swedish educational books

The aim of this study is to analyze how Swedish historical events, traditionally used for ideological purposes, are presented in textbooks at different stages in Swedish education. The theoretical framework is based on Karlsson’s typology of historical uses (1999, 2009), which examines how history is used to categorize historical narratives. The research questions focus on how history is presented in textbooks and how these portrayals can create us-and-them narratives. Swedish textbooks present events such as the Great Power Era and Swedish neutrality policies during World War II in strategic terms, while topics like Sámi history and Sweden’s involvement in the slave trade highlight historical injustices. Textbooks try to provide a balanced view of historical events and highlight their consequences for different groups.[