Politics of Representation in Indonesian Textbooks: The Impacts of Educational Narrative Reforms on the Formation of National Identity in Post-Reform Era

Abstract

While national identity preservation has long occupied Indonesia’s academic and political agenda, existing studies have inadequately explored the representational politics of post-Reform textbook narratives and their concrete implications for national identity formation. One of the key strategies for achieving this goal has been the reform of educational narratives within school textbooks. The purpose of this study is to analyze how the revised textbooks of the Merdeka Curriculum influence the formation of national identity in post-Reform Indonesia. The research employed a mixed-method design combining a questionnaire survey of 80 teachers and parents from Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and Probolinggo with a comparative discourse analysis of three major subjects—Bahasa Indonesia, Pendidikan Pancasila, and Sejarah Indonesia. The analysis focused on textual structure, thematic orientation, and ideological content, comparing new textbooks (2021–2023) with those used under the 2013 Curriculum. Supplementary data were drawn from official publications, media reports, and interviews with textbook authors and curriculum experts. The empirical findings confirm that textbook reform under the Merdeka Belajar policy has significantly reshaped ideological and cultural narratives. The new materials strengthen national consciousness by emphasizing Pancasila values, cultural heritage, and civic participation. Texts include a broader representation of regional heroes, gender equality, and environmental ethics, while literary works and project-based tasks foster emotional attachment to the homeland. Survey results show that 67 % of respondents perceive increased student pride in national culture and 59 % note improvement in civic responsibility and legal literacy. Educational reform in Indonesia thus functions not only as pedagogical modernization but also as an ideological rearticulation of nationhood. Textbook revision has become a principal mechanism through which the state reconfigures the politics of representation, balancing pluralism and cohesion, tradition and modernity, local wisdom and global citizenship. The outcomes demonstrate that integrating cultural narratives and civic values into learning materials is vital for cultivating a cohesive yet democratic Indonesian identity in the twenty-first century.