Exploring eurocentrism in portuguese History manuals

Abstract

In this article, we present an analytical approach developed under the investigation project “Race” and Africa in Portugal: a study about history school manuals. We particularly explore the construction of a Eurocentric view of national/European history resulting from an epistemology based on a teleological conception of historical time and the design of a geography based on the dichotomy center/peripheries. In order to do so, we propose three analytical lines: (i) the employment of space/time for the construction of a logical historical narrative; (ii) the use of the national democratic State as the paradigm of political, social and economic administration; (iii) the naturalization of relations of power and violence, as a way of producing a narrative depoliticized of certain crucial processes (such as slavery or Christianization). Next, we analyze the implications of this framework for education, by arguing that the prevalence of a positivist epistemology – which proposes an approach that compensates for difference through inclusion and other versions of history – is incapable of challenging and transforming the offi cial Eurocentric narratives. We conclude with the proposition of an empiric approach for the study of school manuals that considers the diversity of actors involved in its production and circulation, and also the multiplicity of text readings.