International Journal of Educational Research 37 (2002) 643–651 Chapter 7 Conclusion: deformed relationships—identity politics and history education in East Asia Edward Vickers Department of Lifelong Learning and International Education, Institute of Education, University of London, UK Abstract The previous chapters in this special issue have analysed different aspects of the politics of history curriculum development in East Asia. This final chapter draws together some of the themes that emerge from these analyses. The first of these is the salience, in history curricula throughout the region, of primordialist conceptions of ethno-cultural and historical identity. The second, related to this, is the predominance among political elites of conceptions of history that emphasise the ‘correctness’ of received interpretations, rather than the critical process of historical analysis. The political constraints on curriculum developers mean that despite the recent interest shown across East Asia in more ‘skills-based’ approaches to teaching history, the prospects for implementing a pedagogy that truly encourages a critical approach to the past are likely to remain poor. r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Learning about the past, and coming to understand their historical identity, is part of the socialisation process that young people have undergone in all societies, ancient or modern. ‘I am born with a past,’ writes the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, ‘and to try to cut myself off from that past is to deform my present relationships’ (MacIntyre, 1981). The chapters in this special issue show how the politics of history curriculum development in contemporary China, Taiwan and Japan have resulted in the ‘cutting off’ of students in these societies from crucial aspects of their national or local pasts. For any who doubt the significance of the impact that distorted or partial perceptions of the past can have on relationships in the present, a few examples may serve to illustrate: a young Taiwanese aborigine travelling by train to Taipei is complimented on the fluency of her Mandarin by a fellow passenger who asks ‘And what country do you come from?’; the Chinese manager of a carpet factory in Lhasa ARTICLE IN PRESS 0883-0355/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0883-0355(03)00055-7