This study analyses, through a systematic literature review, research conducted on the colonial past and/in history textbooks, drawing on 44 studies published since 2015. Prompted by renewed global attention to colonial legacies, the review focuses on secondary school history textbooks addressing overseas European modern imperialism. Using a systematic search complemented by snowball sampling, three main research foci were identified: analyses of textbook representations of modern imperialism, investigations into how such representations are used and received in classrooms, and meta-analyses of textbook representations of modern imperialism. Half of the studies examined textbook accounts from former colonizing countries, while the other half focused on textbooks from former colonies or other countries. Two thirds of the studies were situated within the disciplines of history and history education, followed by social psychology and postcolonial studies. All studies employed qualitative methods (some also quantitative) involving textual analysis, often informed by postcolonial perspectives, while explicit methodological transparency was lacking in one third of them. The findings from the 44 studies reveal a persistent resistance to postcolonial transformation in textbooks from former colonizing countries, despite some textbooks showing incremental shifts. By contrast, textbooks from former colonies more frequently offer explicitly critical, anti-imperial narratives that connect past injustices to contemporary forms of neocolonialism and present-day inequalities, though these accounts also reproduce simplifications and binary oppositions. Across contexts, textbooks continue to mirror national memory cultures more than academic historiography. Nevertheless, emerging innovative materials, committed teachers and experimental pedagogies illustrate the potential for more decolonial, inclusive approaches to teaching the colonial past.
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