Shaping minds: neoliberal themes in Turkish social studies textbooks

This article contributes to the critical discourse on neoliberalism’s impact on shaping how future generations understand their world by examining its localisation and ideological reflections in Turkish Social Studies Textbooks (SSTB). Drawing on Apple’s and Harvey’s transformative ideas on neoliberal ideology, it explores how neoliberalism, often analysed from a Western perspective, takes different forms under local dynamics and influences textbook content. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study uncovers numerous neoliberal discourses embedded in SSTB. Findings show that textbooks adapt to the demands of the business world and reflect neoliberal values shaped by socio-political changes. They emphasise consumption, competition, and entrepreneurship as dominant educational paradigms while downplaying or ignoring the social functions of education, such as rights. Based on the findings, it is emphasised that SSTB should strengthen democratic values to balance neoliberal influences and provide more inclusive and community-centered perspectives.