The European Union and the Modernization of the Turkish Education ...

Others make an even stronger case when they argue that legitimate education creates a skilled, productive, and patriotic citizenry; it also defines the relationship between the state and citizens. Therefore, social theorists (e.g., Mazzini, 1995; Weber, 1995) emphasize that the provision for formal instruction serves an essential and legitimating function in the context of state-building. In addition, these sociopolitical philosophers share the belief that state-sponsored education paves the way to social unification and political cohesion (Blitz, 1997).

Turkey is a classic example of the previous observations. But the use of curriculum and textbooks in promoting political and social agendas is complicated by the fact that these vehicles (once employed by the Turkish nation state to promote Kemalism)—the basic ideas, beliefs, actions, and strategies of Kemal Ataturk (the founder of the new republic)—must now support different goals. Prior to the last 2 decades, Turkish history/social studies curriculum and textbooks have conveyed to students those norms that stressed national aspirations and identity (Swartz, 1997). The associated ideologies were to direct the social system toward the nationalistic goals of an integrated society and optimized programs for the nation. Currently, however, the focus of the issues has switched from those of national interest to those of transnational accommodation, because of Turkey’s candidacy for entry into the EU.

Turkey’s situation is typical, then, because in today’s world, new dynamics and challenges complicate the modernist and state-centricist’s concept of social unification, as mentioned previously.

The European Union presents a unique multiperspective polity (Ruggie, 1993) because international treaties which take supremacy over national laws are the foundation of the EU. As a result of intranational agreements, the EU has accumulated far-reaching powers over multiple policy areas and industries (e.g., agriculture, coal, and steel) that had been the uncontested domain of individual nation states.