School Textbook as a Tool of Consolidation of the Moral Order and of Diversity Management: the Use of the Category "Nation/Ethnic Group" in the Textbooks "Natural Science" and "World Around Us"

Abstract

This study analyzes the contexts employed in the category "people" (narod) in Soviet and post-Soviet primary school textbooks. The empirical base of the re-search was three textbooks from the 1970–80’s and 12 textbooks from 2001–2006. This allowed an analysis of how often the concept "people" was used in a variety of contexts and meanings. In Soviet textbooks, ideas such as "working people" and "co-citizenship" were dominant,, whereas the Post–Soviet textbooks focused on the "ethno-cultural community". Ethnic groups’ are mentioned in the Soviet textbooks only within the context of natural-climatic zones, with an emphasis on economic specialization as the "traditional" type of production. In the post-Soviet textbooks, "ethnic groups" are mentioned within civil and historical contexts. This includes the possibility and necessity of definite ethnic identification at the level of the individual. The criteria for this are language, folklore, anthropological characteristics and mental outlook. Confirmation of the homogeneity of the group based on these criteria leads to the approval of the homogeneity of the nation. The nation as a political community is conceived in modern textbooks as a developed, evolved form of the ethnic community. Such contexts are fixed through the approval of morality of the social order, which leads to the strengthening of social hierarchy and to the spread of discriminatory practices against minorities.