ABSTRACT
New social contexts, new processes of text creation, a new cultural politics, the transformation of authority relations, and new ways of reading texts—all of this can evolve and help usher in a positive rather than a negative sense of the power of the text. Here, the politics of the text takes on special importance, because the textbook often represents an overt attempt to help create a new cultural reality. The politics of the textbook is directly related to the role of government agencies in producing, selecting, and legitimating the books that dominate the curriculum. Few aspects of schooling currently have been subject to more intense scrutiny and criticism than the textbook. Perhaps one of the most graphic descriptions is provided by A. Graham Down of the Council for Basic Education: Textbooks, for better or worse, dominate what students learn. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
