Tina van der Vlies, Indah Wahyu Puji Utami
History textbooks wield significant influence in shaping collective memory and identity, which is why history education is often positioned as both culprit and cure for gaps in collective memory. Yet its own historical development often remains underexamined. This article addresses this gap by examining how perspectives on decolonization have evolved in Indonesian and Dutch history education from 1950 to 2025, underscoring the need to empirically ground and historicize these perspectives across diverse temporal and spatial contexts. Employing a diachronic and transnational framework that engages with geopolitics and processes of instrumental and cultural perpetuation, it discusses history education as both a contested site and a catalyst for critical reflection and reparative action. © 2026 Indiana University Press. All rights reserved.
History Department, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands; History Department, Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia
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