Teaching European colonial history in a “humanitarian superpower”: Presentations of colonialism in Swedish middle-school textbooks

Abstract

The politicization of history education relating to colonialism in former major colonial powers, like Britain and France, and former colonies has for obvious reasons received ample scholarly attention. But how is colonial history represented in educational materials aimed at primary school students in countries with a less evident connection to colonialism? This paper considers the case of Sweden, a country that has long prided itself on being untainted by much of the problematic history of its European neighbors but whose historical connections to colonialism have been the subject of an upsurge in academic research during the past decade. Examining the national curriculum guidelines and three major middle school textbooks, it argues that the narrative of colonial history is caught between the broadly critical perspectives expected of a self-styled “humanitarian superpower” and an apparently transnational conservative nostalgia for British India.