HomeSpanish Social Movements In Ivorian School Textbooks (20th– 21st Centuries)

Spanish Social Movements In Ivorian School Textbooks (20th– 21st Centuries)

Los movimientos sociales españoles en los libros de texto de costa de marfil (siglos XX-XXI)

Les mouvements sociaux espagnols dans les manuels scolaires ivoiriens (XXe–XXIe siècles)

Spanische Sozialbewegungen in ivorischen schulbüchern (20.– 21. jahrhundert)

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Published on Thursday, May 07, 2026

Abstract

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In Spain, a country that has undergone profound political, social, and identity transformations since the twentieth century, the presentation of history in school curricula has continually oscillated between the transmission of memory and ideological reinterpretation. Similarly, in France, textbooks have long addressed the Spanish Civil War from pro-Republican or neutral perspectives, reflecting official curricula and contributing to what have been described as plural and contested “historical memories”. In the case of Côte d’Ivoire, two studies have highlighted a strong ideological bias toward traditional conservative values, both regarding representations of women and the family. Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) textbooks therefore function as silent ambassadors of Spain abroad.

Announcement

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Target Audience

Researchers in Spanish civilisation, didactics, foreign and second language teaching, Hispanists, sociologists of education, secondary school inspectors, secondary school teachers, publishers, educational institutions, cultural practitioners, and memorial associations.

Argument

Social Movements (SMs) are collective actions undertaken by citizens, groups, and communities united by shared goals, who organise themselves to challenge their circumstances, tackle common problems, or resist domination.

Under the Ancien Régime, social movements took on forms that blurred the boundary between private and public : noisy demonstrations outside the homes of prominent figures to denounce moral injustices, grain seizures, and attacks on local property. At times, they extended to broader protests against food shortages, taking the form of actions sponsored by or petitions addressed to lords and authorities on behalf of more distant grievances.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the public dimension of these movements became the established mode of protest within a revolutionary context marked by inequality and social tensions among the working classes. The most recognisable forms of collective action were strikes and mass demonstrations, operating within structured trade unionism and collective bargaining frameworks. Peasant and rural movements were equally prominent in their demands for land rights and fair wages, as the remarkably relevant today. It was indeed a key catalyst for scholarly interest in the social movements aligned with the study*   of Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset (1999) so perceptively observed. Although that work first appeared in 1929, it remains the Spanish workers’ movement during the Second Republic — movements focused specifically on professional and wagerelated grievances. Then, in the second half of the 20th century (from the 1960s onwards), New Social Movements (NSMs) emerged, distinguished by their post-materialist demands centred on identity, the environment, and cultural rights. They marked a shift towards symbolic conflicts and the pursuit of social recognition : feminist movements, environmentalism, alterglobalisation, LGBTQI+ activism, and so forth.

This international context has left its mark on language learning materials, and on Spanish-language resources in particular. Grammar and vocabulary are embedded within a political, social, economic, and cultural framework. They are often incorporated implicitly, as part of a broader narrative about the world carried by the language and its cultures. Textbooks, used as primary teaching supports, thus offer a privileged vantage point from which to observe the collective representations of a nation (Krapoth, 2025). For millions of learners across the world, they construct a particular image of history, society, and collective memory.

In Spain, a country that has undergone profound political, social, and identity transformations since the twentieth century, the presentation of history in school curricula has continually oscillated between the transmission of memory and ideological reinterpretation. Similarly, in France, textbooks—particularly those used in the final year of secondary education—have long addressed the Spanish Civil War from pro-Republican or neutral perspectives, reflecting official curricula and contributing to what have been described as plural and contested “historical memories” (Aguilar Fernández, 2008 ; Ferrándiz, 2014). In the case of Côte d’Ivoire, two studies have highlighted a strong ideological bias toward traditional conservative values, both regarding representations of women (Ikossié Kouakou, 2017a) and the family (Ikossié Kouakou, 2017b). Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) textbooks therefore function as silent ambassadors of Spain abroad.

Moreover, at a time when debates on memory laws, regional identity claims, and feminist, anti-colonial, postcolonial, labor, and environmental movements are once again at the forefront, the issue of the narratives transmitted to younger generations is crucial. At the heart of this study lies a central question : to what extent have Spanish language textbooks, as both mirrors and vehicles of memory, (re)configured the place of twentieth* - and twenty-first-century Spanish social movements within the

Ivorian narrative ? How do these historiographical developments reflect political and social changes in Spain—and even globally ? From this follow more specific questions : which historical memories are mobilized in Spanish textbooks ? How are these collective movements selected, interpreted, and narrated ? To what extent do these school narratives contribute to shaping learners’ understanding of contemporary Spanish history ?

These questions are grounded in three key research pillars :

  • A renewed historiography of social movements, illustrated by the work of Mariano Esteban de la Vega (on political identities) and Manuel Redero San Román (a specialist in the labour movement and the Spanish Transition), whose joint synthesis volume is a key reference (Esteban de la Vega, M. & Redero San Román, M. (Eds.), 2011).
  • The study of memory politics in Spain, a field comprehensively mapped by Aguilar Fernández (2008).
  • Critical studies on textbooks by García, F. J., & Mayordomo, A. (2013), Djandué, B. D., & Djè, A. M. (2022), Ikossié Kouakou, A. V. (2017a), and Ikossié Kouakou, A. V. (2017b).

From this perspective, this conference proposes to explore a specific research angle at the intersection of social history, historiography, sociology of education, foreign language didactics, and memory studies. It does not merely aim to define and categorize discourses, but rather seeks to offer a deeper reflection on the politics and epistemology of knowledge transmission.

Its general objective is to analyse how Spanish social movements are represented in Spanish language textbooks used in Côte d’Ivoire from the twentieth century to the present day. More specifically, it aims to :

  • Map the historical narratives of Spain conveyed in Spanish textbooks used in Côte d’Ivoire.
  • Analyze how textbooks reflect the history of Spanish social movements in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
  • Examine the processes of selection, interpretation, and narrative construction of Spanish social movements in Spanish textbooks.  *
  • Assess the impact of school narratives on the construction of historical representations of contemporary Spain in general, and in particular on the transmission of the historical memory of social movements among learners in Côte d’Ivoire.
  • Highlight the impact of school narratives on the construction of learners’ historical representations of contemporary Spain.

By focusing on this laboratory of self-representation abroad, this conference aims to profoundly renew reflection on the links between second and foreign language teaching, the transmission of history, and the construction of cultural imaginaries.

RESEARCH AXES

The conference is organised around the following thematic strands :

AXIS 1. — Historiographical Construction and the Transmission of Spanish Social Movements Case studies and diachronic approaches.

  • Evolution of the narrative of social movements
  • Selection of highlighted events and historiographical silences Memory, forgetting, and transmission.
  • The role of textbooks as vehicles of collective memory around social movements. Tensions between Spanish memory and Ivorian appropriation.

AXIS 2. — Narrative Forms and Textual Devices

  • Images, written texts, and information boxes.
  • Heroised or marginalised figures.
  • The narrative construction of social mobilisations.
  • Representations of actors and forms of engagement.

AXIS 3. — Ideological issues and Models of Citizenship*

  • Moral, religious, political, and civic discourses.
  • The influence of contextual factors (particularly Ivorian ones).
  • Valued models of citizenship.
  • Political and social values transmitted.

AXIS 4. — Varia : Comparative, Methodological, and Cross-Cutting Perspectives

  • The influence of new social movements (environmental, feminist, postcolonial).
  • Social mobilisations in the Global South.
  • Comparative approaches in postcolonial contexts.
  • Geographical comparisons : parallels, contrasts, and transfers of meaning or examples.
  • Methodologies for analysing school textbooks.
  • Contemporary pedagogical uses of social movements in teaching.
  • Textbooks in the digital age : uses and alternatives.

Any well-grounded proposal adopting interdisciplinary approaches or complementary perspectives in keeping with the conference themes.

N.B. : Panel sessions are also planned ; further details will be provided in the second circular.

Submission guidelines

Languages of presentation : Spanish, French, English, German.

  • Format : On-site – Online – Hybrid.
  • Proposal Content            QR code for pre-registration
  •    Title : 10–15 words.
  • Abstract : (200–300 words).
  • Keywords : 5–7 terms.
  • Chosen thematic strand.
  • Chosen format : on site – Online – Hybrid.
  • Biographical note : (150 words maximum).         Or https://forms.gle/2vJFyE6VuhmSMFbm8 Full contact details (additional information : 300 words maximum). Submission Details  *
  • Deadline : 30 August 2026, midnight (UTC, Côte d’Ivoire time).

Evaluation Criteria

  • Originality and scientific relevance
  • Methodological coherence
  • Quality of the research problem
  • Relevance to the conference axes

Writing quality

N.B. : A collective volume bringing together all conference contributions will be published in order to ensure their wider dissemination and to showcase the outcomes of the event.

TIMELINE

Event  Date

  • Circulation of the call for papers  30 April 2026
  • Submission deadline for proposals  30 August 2026
  • Notification of acceptance/rejection  30 September 2026
  • Registration and payment open  1 October – 27 December 2026
  • Submission of full papers (pre-proceedings)  28 February 2027
  • Conference dates  23–25 March 2027
  • Publication of conference proceedings  December 2027

Fee (CFA Francs)

  • Professors and researchers  50,000 F CFA
  • Institutions, associations, and exhibition stands  75,000 F CFA
  • Secondary school inspectors  30,000 F CFA
  • Secondary school teachers  20,000 F CFA
  • Audit attendees  25,000 F CFA
  • Students  10,000 F CFA

Scientific Committee

  • Prof. Mariano Esteban de la Vega  Université de Salamanca et Asociación de Historia Contemporánea (Espagne)
  • Prof. Manuel Redero San Román  Université de Salamanca (Espagne)
  • Prof. Opadou KOUDOU  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Prof. Jean-Marie Gaudouh KOUAKOU  Universidad Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Prof. Albert DAGO-DADIÉ  Universidad Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Prof. Clément Akassi Animan  Howard University (USA)
  • Prof. Elise YAPO-ANVILÉ  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Prof. Seydou KONÉ  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Prof. Agba Ezéchiel AKROBOU  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Prof. Marcela PAÍS ANDRADE *  Université de Buenos Aires (Argentine)
  • Prof. David PÉREZ JORGE  Université de La Laguna (Espagne)
  • Prof. Jean-Arsène YAO  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire) et Université de Alcalá de Henares (Espagne)
  • Prof. Sévérin KONIN  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Prof. Anne Marilyse KOUADIO  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Arsène Thierry SÉKA YAPI  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Yoboué Kouadio Michel AGBA  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Assi Gilbert YASSI  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Karidjatou DIALLO  Université Alassane Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Laurent LALEKOU KOUAKOU  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Ya Eveline TOURÉ JONHSON  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Fodjo Kouman KOUAKOU  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Amon Cathérine DJORO KOMENAN  Université Alassane Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Orphée Gerson GORÉ  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)

Organizing Commitee

  • Dr (MC) Seibo Alexise Véronique IKOSSIÉ
  • KOUAKOU  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Bi Drombé DJANDUÉ  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Michel YAPI  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Happy Rosalie MOMEY LOLO  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Adjoa Natahlie CHIYÉ KESSÉ  Université Alassane Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MC) Adeline YACÉ  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)

Deputy coordinators :

  • Dr (MC) Viviane ASSÉMIEN ADIKO  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MA) Adjoua Elisabeth BROU YAPOGA  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MA) Lopez Emmanuel Oscar KOFFI  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MA) Abraham GBOGBOU  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MA) Alexis-Camille Atsé KIMOU  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)

 Members

  • Dr (MA) Koblan Foly Jean KOSSI  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MA) Amenan Valérie KOUASSI KONIN  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MA) Félix N’GUESSAN  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MA) Ozoukouo Léa N’DRIN  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MA) Abou Sampha BAYOKO  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MA) Diochienmè Mathieu BAMBA  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr (MA) Agré Jules- Arnaud AGRÉ  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr André VEH  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr Nahounou Angenor YAO  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr Moussa SANGARÉ  *  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr N’Guessan Fulgence KOUASSI  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr Amenan Opportune AHOUSSY
  • DAVODOUN  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr Adjoua Hélène BOKA GUEHI  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr Assandé Franck DIBY  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Dr N’guetta Evelyne Nadia DJADJI  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • M. Kouamé Louis N’GORAN  École d’Application Jean-Piaget d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • M. Franck Hebert Kigninman OUATTARA  École Normale Supérieure d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Mlle Amani Jocelyne BEHIBRO  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Mlle Dotah SORO  Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire)

Selected Biblography

Aguilar Fernández, P. (2008). Políticas de la memoria y memoria de la política. El caso español en perpectiva compara da. Alianza Editorial.

Djandué, B. D., & Djè, A. M. (2022, 27–28 octobre). Entre globalisation et déglobalisation dans la conception des ma nuels d’espagnol langue étrangère en Côte d’Ivoire [Communication]. Actes du premier colloque international : Globalisation, terrorisme et souveraineté en Afrique, Université Alassane Ouattara, Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire.

Esteban de Vega, M., & Redero San Román, M. (Eds.). (2011). Los movimientos sociales en la España contemporánea.

   Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca.

Ferrándiz, F. (2014). El pasado bajo tierra. Exhumaciones contemporáneas de la Guerra Civil. Anthrpos.

García, F. J., & Mayordomo, A. (2013). Estudios sobre libros de texto de historia, geografía y ciencias sociales. Universi dad de Valencia.

Gómez Carrasco, C.J., Cózar Gutiérrez, R., Miralles Martínez, P. (Eds.). (2013). Los libros de texto de Ciencias Sociales

   y la enseñanza de la Historia. Construcción de identidades y desarrollo de competencias. Universidad de Mur

   cia.  *

Ikossié Kouakou, A. V.

(2017a). La mujer contemporánea en los libros de texto Horizontes 3 y Horizontes 2 : Imagen y papel. Boletín de la Asociación para la Enseñanza del Español como Lengua Extranjera (ASELE), 57, 29–40.

(2017b). La familia en el aula de ELE : estudio de « Horizontes » en Costa de Marfil : (Re)presentación de la familia en los libros de textos « Horizontes ». Editorial Académica Española.

Krapoth, S. (2025). “D’une mémoire nationale à l’ancrage du partenariat franco-allemand en Europe : les manuels sco laires comme vecteurs de représentations collectives”, Les relations franco- allemandes en perspective. Sources, méthodes et temporalités pour une approche des représentations depuis 1870. Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté.

Vinyes, R. (2009). El Estado y la memoria. Gobiernos y ciudadanos frente a los traumas de la historia. RBA.

Website : https://colmouvsocman27.sciencesconf.org

 Email : colloque.abj.mouvementsociaux@gmail.com

Places

  • Ecole Normale Supérieure d'Abidjan
    Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Event attendance modalities

Hybrid event (on site and online)


Date(s)

  • Sunday, August 30, 2026

Keywords

  • mouvements sociaux, Manuels scolaires, mémoire historique, didactique des langues, représentations culturelles, espagne contemporaine, postcolonialité, imaginaires identitaires. movimientos sociales, libros de texto, memoria histórica, didáctica de l

Contact(s)

  • Alexise IKOSSIE
    courriel : colloque [dot] abj [dot] mouvementsociaux [at] gmail [dot] com

Reference Urls

Information source

  • seibo alexise véronique ikossie kouakou
    courriel : alexiseikossie [at] gmail [dot] com

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Spanish Social Movements In Ivorian School Textbooks (20th– 21st Centuries) », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, May 07, 2026, https://doi.org/10.58079/166we

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