Good points HB, thanks. The full paper has quite a few thoughts on this issue and the reasons why the authors could not find similar examples in Africa, is at least partly because of the history of colonialism in each country and the way in which this deliberately restricted educational opportunities. Sure the authors may have more thoughts on this.
HB, thanks for the comment, which goes to the heart of one of the issues or dilemmas. That is why in the paper we don't really suggest nationalism as a policy, not even remotely. We try to coin the phrase of a nation-project, rather than nationalism per se. A nation-project as something that can create a sense of shared-fate and shared committment to ideals. That said, though we shy from it, there are serious scholars who do advocate for what one might simplistically call a sort of "good nationalism" or a "rights-oriented" nationalism. Not to fob off the work on you, if you read page 129 and the following few pages in the paper itself. Andy provides the link but here it is again: https://riseprogramme.org/publications/purpose-driven-education-system-transformations-history-lessons-korea-and-japan.html As to examples, one could cite Japan and Korea themselves, but Japan AFTER the war, where there was still an emphasis on education as important to the nation but where militarism was downplayed in policy, in society in general, etc. SImilarly if you look at curricula in Korea, they tend to emphasize world citizen ship. So the values being transmitted are, again, to put it simplistically, "good" and "decent" values, but in the context of a nation-project that definitely saw the nation as the locus of effort, pride, etc. If you want more examples, have a look at the pages in the paper I reference. One could note perhaps Turkiye with Ataturk, India for a good period after its independence, but perhaps not so much recently with the Hindu nationalism/sectariamism pushed by the BJP. (As you can see, one can quickly get into politics and ideololgy here, and beyond one's depth, which I do not want to do, at least not in a substack comment!) There are actually also very scholarly videos on Youtube on this whole debate. Some of them are talks by "public intellectuals" and are not too heavy into poli-sci, some of them do get very scholarly. You can search for terms such as rights oriented nationalism and so on. I hope that makes sense. Ultimately I am not sure what one can recommend here, other than that the issue would benefit from discussion. but see the paper for some ideas.
Really useful and accessible summary of what sounds like a fascinating paper. Thank you! Especially intrigued by the perceived threat of the link between education and nationalism in African countries, a connection which colonial powers would have been well-practiced in domestically for the production of imperial functionaries. You mentioned the uncomfortable reality of the close relationship between national purpose and nationalism. Authoritarian regimes have always come under criticism for their emphasis on nationalism but many colonial powers have also come under severe criticism for their purposeful omission of the colonial history from school curriculums. Are there any good models for maintaining a balance between the two?
Good points HB, thanks. The full paper has quite a few thoughts on this issue and the reasons why the authors could not find similar examples in Africa, is at least partly because of the history of colonialism in each country and the way in which this deliberately restricted educational opportunities. Sure the authors may have more thoughts on this.
HB, thanks for the comment, which goes to the heart of one of the issues or dilemmas. That is why in the paper we don't really suggest nationalism as a policy, not even remotely. We try to coin the phrase of a nation-project, rather than nationalism per se. A nation-project as something that can create a sense of shared-fate and shared committment to ideals. That said, though we shy from it, there are serious scholars who do advocate for what one might simplistically call a sort of "good nationalism" or a "rights-oriented" nationalism. Not to fob off the work on you, if you read page 129 and the following few pages in the paper itself. Andy provides the link but here it is again: https://riseprogramme.org/publications/purpose-driven-education-system-transformations-history-lessons-korea-and-japan.html As to examples, one could cite Japan and Korea themselves, but Japan AFTER the war, where there was still an emphasis on education as important to the nation but where militarism was downplayed in policy, in society in general, etc. SImilarly if you look at curricula in Korea, they tend to emphasize world citizen ship. So the values being transmitted are, again, to put it simplistically, "good" and "decent" values, but in the context of a nation-project that definitely saw the nation as the locus of effort, pride, etc. If you want more examples, have a look at the pages in the paper I reference. One could note perhaps Turkiye with Ataturk, India for a good period after its independence, but perhaps not so much recently with the Hindu nationalism/sectariamism pushed by the BJP. (As you can see, one can quickly get into politics and ideololgy here, and beyond one's depth, which I do not want to do, at least not in a substack comment!) There are actually also very scholarly videos on Youtube on this whole debate. Some of them are talks by "public intellectuals" and are not too heavy into poli-sci, some of them do get very scholarly. You can search for terms such as rights oriented nationalism and so on. I hope that makes sense. Ultimately I am not sure what one can recommend here, other than that the issue would benefit from discussion. but see the paper for some ideas.
Really useful and accessible summary of what sounds like a fascinating paper. Thank you! Especially intrigued by the perceived threat of the link between education and nationalism in African countries, a connection which colonial powers would have been well-practiced in domestically for the production of imperial functionaries. You mentioned the uncomfortable reality of the close relationship between national purpose and nationalism. Authoritarian regimes have always come under criticism for their emphasis on nationalism but many colonial powers have also come under severe criticism for their purposeful omission of the colonial history from school curriculums. Are there any good models for maintaining a balance between the two?