Peacebuilding and reconciliation between groups and entire nations that share a violent past are among the toughest, yet most important, challenges for modern societies. Opposing perspectives, disagreements about the interpretation of historical events or even entirely different narratives too often impede processes of rapprochement. How can teaching history contribute to overcoming the demarcation lines of such narratives and resolving historical conflicts that are passed on from generation to generation or renewed, amplified and exploited for present political purposes? This volume comprises twelve case studies―from Central and Eastern Europe to South Africa, from the Middle East to East Asia―exploring stories about successes and failures in the never-ending struggle for peaceful coexistence. All of them ultimately reflect the fundamental question of our discipline: Can we learn from history?
Author(s): Florian Helfer, Peter Geiss, Sandra Müller-Tietz, Michael Rohrschneider
Publisher: Springer VS
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 284
City: Wiesbaden
Foreword
Contents
List of Figures
Introduction: Understanding and Overcoming Conflict
References
Peacebuilding and Reconciliation in the Twentieth Century
Between “Rapprochement” and “Reconciliation”: The Lessons of Franco-German History in the Twentieth Century
1 The Post-Second World War Period: A Time for Rapprochement?
1.1 The First Initiatives for Rapprochement
1.2 When the Term “Reconciliation” was Still (Almost) Taboo
2 The Development of the Master Narrative of Reconciliation
2.1 The Political and Societal Rehabilitation of the Term “Reconciliation”
2.2 Facing the Past: The Prerequisite for Reconciliation
2.3 Self-Celebration of the Franco-German Reconciliation and European Transfers
3 Conclusion
References
A Prime Example for the Objectification of Textbook Representations? Failure and Success of the Franco-German Textbook Discussions in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
1 First Thesis
2 Second Thesis
3 Third Thesis
4 Fourth Thesis
5 Fifth Thesis
6 Conclusion and Outlook: History Teaching in France and Germany Today
References
The End of the Rainbow? Problems of Commemoration and Nation-Building in Post-apartheid South Africa
1 Commemoration during Apartheid: The White Man’s Country
2 The “Rainbow Nation”? Commemoration in Post-Apartheid South Africa
2.1 Reconciliation by Truth?
2.2 Whose Nation, Whose History?
2.3 Honouring Victims and Celebrating National Heroes
2.4 #RhodesMustFall
3 Conclusion
References
Peacebuilding in History Teaching Today
Post-Soviet Openness to the West in Russian History Textbooks
1 The Image of the West in Russian Politics
2 Textbooks and Politics
3 The West in Textbook Narratives
3.1 Official Interpretation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
3.2 Other Interpretations
4 Conclusion
References
Was Austria the First Victim? Nazism in Austrian History Teaching
1 Conclusion and Outlook
References
Dual Historical Narratives: A Bottom-Up Approach to Teaching History in an Asymmetric Conflict—PRIME Experiences
1 Conciliation or Reconciliation
2 Prior to PRIME Projects
2.1 From Personal to Formal Relationships: The Idea was Born
2.2 Initiating Research on Palestinian and Israeli School Textbooks
3 About PRIME
4 Two Education Systems: Palestinian and Israeli
5 Recommendations for Textbooks
6 Dual Historical Narratives in History Teaching
6.1 A Bottom-up Approach for Peacebuilding in an Asymmetric Conflict Situation
6.2 The Dual Narratives Project
6.3 Textbook Development
7 Response
7.1 Reactions of Palestinian and Israeli Officials
7.2 International Reactions to the Book and the Process
7.3 Implementation in Classrooms: Reactions of Pupils and Their Parents
8 Challenges and Achievements: Peacebuilding Projects Under Fire
9 Conflicting Narratives—Case Examples
9.1 The Balfour Declaration (1917)
9.2 The British Mandate (1923–1948)
9.3 Maps and Places
9.4 The 1948 War
9.5 Palestinian Refugees
9.6 The Role of the Arab Countries
9.7 The 1967 Six Day War
9.8 The First Palestinian Intifada (1987)
9.9 The Oslo Accords (1993)
References
Colonial Violence in German and English History Textbooks
1 Colonial Memory in German and English History Education
2 Method
3 Colonial Violence in German Textbooks
3.1 Curricula
3.2 Analysis of Five Contemporary NRW Textbooks
4 Colonial Violence in English Textbooks
4.1 Curricula
4.2 Analysis of Five Contemporary English Textbooks
5 Conclusion: Colonial History and National Identity
References
Learning from History? Comparative Perspectives
Breaking the Chains of the Narrative: History Teaching, Peacebuilding and the Challenge of Human Universalism
1 Creating Warlike Mindsets: Textbooks in the Age of Imperialism
2 Beyond the Prison of National Narratives: Universalising History Teaching
3 Conclusion
References
The Prospects for Public History in East Asia: History Textbooks, Museums, Cinema and TV
1 Books as a Tool for Public History
1.1 A Popular Book or a Book of Demagogy?
1.2 An Unsuccessful Defamation Case
1.3 An Untouchable Revisionist Hotel
1.4 A Shared Textbook or a Shared Book
1.5 A Journal for Popularising History
2 Films as Tools of Public History
2.1 Un Village Français and Unsere Mütter, Unsere Väter
2.2 (TV) Movies in East Asia
3 Museums as Tool for Public History
3.1 Japanese Museums
3.2 Museums in East Asia
3.3 Museums/Events Without Borders in Europe
4 Conclusion
References
The Peace of Westphalia (1648) as a Model for the Middle East? An Interim Summary
1 Current Debates
2 The Potential of Historical Peace and Conflict Research: Some Fundamental Thoughts
References
Peacebuilding in the Digital Realm
A Web of Peaces: Twitter Narratives on the Peace of Westphalia
1 The Peace and the Web: Two Preliminaries
1.1 The Peace of Westphalia in the Twentyfirst Century
1.2 Social Media in a Historiographical Perspective
2 Understanding and Overcoming? Narratives of the Peace of Westphalia on Twitter
2.1 A French View: Overcoming the Alsatian Narrative?
2.2 A Dutch View: A (Supra)National Date of Independence
2.3 Spanish and Portuguese Views: Don’t Mention the Peace!
2.4 A Swiss View: Johann Rudolf Wettstein’s Legacy on Twitter
2.5 A German View: (Westphalian) Peace for the World
3 Conclusions: A Digital Web of Peace(s)?
References
Peacebuilding on YouTube? Conflicts, National Narratives and Comment Sections
1 Two Channels—Similar but Different?
2 Linear Narratives and Colourful Animations—Video Structures
3 What do the Users Think?
4 Historical Consciousness and Use of Sources
5 History Teaching
6 Video Topic—The German Question and German Unification
7 Explainer Videos and Peacebuilding—Pragmatic Explorations
8 Conclusion
References
