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1st Edition

Censorship and Self-Censorship in History Education A Comparative Approach to Backsliding Democracies

Edited By Ruben Zeeman Copyright 2026

386 Pages

by Central European University Press

Description

Censorship of history education takes place around the world. A striking feature of recent examples is that they often coincide with challenges to democratic governance. This book examines this interplay between censorship and self-censorship in history education and so-called democratic backsliding. It does so in two parts. The first brings together an interdisciplinary group of academics, high... Read more

Table of Contents

Introduction - Transnational History Education and Backsliding Democracy

Ruben Zeeman

Regional Essays

1. Brazil

a. The Diffuse Vigilance of History Teaching in Contemporary Brazil

Paolo Otero dos Santos

b. Historical Visibility for Women, Black and Indigenous Peoples in Brazil and Latin America

Luanna Jales

c. History, Sexuality and Gender Education: Intersections and Interactions in Brazil

Juliana Cesario Alvim Gomes

2. Hungary

a. Illiberal History Education: The Case of Hungary

Andrea Petö and Flore Higuet

b. History Teaching in Hungary

Péter Bihari

c. History Teaching under Threat? Recent Cases from East-Central and Southeastern Europe

Andreas Holtberget

3. India

a. Weaponizing History: Threat to Democracy in India

Aditya Mukherjee and Mridula Mukherjee

b. History Textbooks in Maharashtra: Vernacular Realities

Shraddha Kumbhojkar

c. ‘Saffronization’ of the History Curriculum in India under the BJP

Adnaan Farooq

4. United States

a. State-Level Educational Censorship Legislation Affecting Colleges and Universities

Jeremy Young and Jacqueline Allain

b. Teaching in the Age of Anti-History: A Teacher's Reflection

Nelva Williamson

c. European Critiques and Actions Against Critical Race Theory

Mathias Möschel

Thematic Essays

1. Teaching on Thin Ice: Social Media, Epistemic Conflict, and the Targeting of History Educators

Robbert-Jan Adriaansen

2. Reimagining Gender and Sex Education as a Political Right

Mariana Prandini Assis

3. The Hidden History Curriculum: Negotiated Gender History Education in Ghana

Eugenia Ama Breba Anderson and Samuel Adu-Gyamfi

4. History Education Moratoria during Transitions to Democracy

Antoon de Baets

Conclusion

Censorship in School Education

Eckhardt Fuchs and Wibke Westermeyer

Index

Editor(s)

Biography

Ruben Zeeman is a Ph.D. student at Brown University researching education policies at the League of Nations, and the coordinator of the Network of Concerned Historians, a human rights network documenting the censorship of history producers around the world.

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