Ideas of democracy and individual liberty in curricula of social studies in Denmark Norway and Sweden

Social science education/social studies or “samfundsfag” is characterized by a
normative tension between stability (conservativism) and change (critique). This tension is apparent at the level of society, as well as at the level of the individual: should education aim at preserving political order, or at criticizing and changing it? Is the aim personal emancipation, or rather socializing into being a good citizen (Westheimer, J. (2015) Sant, E. (2019))?
In the curricula, for social studies (samfundsfag) in its diHerent forms in the Scandinavian countries we can find these tensions expressed in the ways the ideal citizen is portrayed and in the ways society is envisioned (Aashamar & Kle_e (2023), Børhaug, et al. (2022) Jansson et. al. (2023)). In light of the recent and ongoing changes in the curricula in Norway, Sweden and Denmark the research question of this paper is: what ideals of democracy and the democratic citizen are expressed in the curricula for social studies in Denmark, Norway and Sweden? Is there variation in the image of the ideal citizen, and, in the case of Denmark can we see a development in the period from 1975-2025?
In didactic theory in Scandinavian countries the ideal of maturity, understood in the Kantian sense of Mündigkeit, is often referred to as an ideal for the individual and for “Bildung” (dannelse). This entails an ideal of emancipation, that is contrary to a more conservative view of adaptation or socialization into given norms. On the level of society, the question has been raised to what extent education should be critical towards the current political system or rather be aHirmative of the political system.
In this paper I will approach the question of stability vs. change and emancipation vs. adaptation from a theoretical perspective from didactical theory, in order to identify didactical positions. Following that I will analyse the current curricula for social studies in lower secondary school in Denmark (samfundsfag), Norway (samfunnsfag) and Sweden (samhällskunskap), as well as the curricula in Denmark dating back to 1975.

References
Aashamar, P. N., & Klette, K. (2023). Powerful knowledge in the social studies classroom and beyond. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 55(4), 388–408.
10.1080/00220272.2023.2234427
Børhaug, K., Hunnes, O. R., & Samnøy, Å (Eds.). (2022). Nye spadestikk i
samfunnsfagdidaktikken. Fakbokforlaget.
Jansson, M., Johansson, P., & Sandahl, J. (2023). Trust as subject content: Advancing students’ reasoning on democracy through displacement. Journal of Social ScienceEducation, 22(3)10.11576/jsse-5548
Sant, E. (2019). Democratic Education: A Theoretical Review (2006–2017). Review of Educational Research, 89(5), 655–696. 10.3102/0034654319862493
Westheimer, J. (2015). What Kind of Citizen? Educating Our Children for the Common Good. Teachers College Press.