German textbooks draw a startingly differentiated image of the economy and entrepreneurial occupations. As a general rule, the textbooks cannot be accused of having a negative position towards entrepreneurship and the market economy. Yet they do not view entrepreneurial and pure free market action as the highest commodity. They challenge students with regards to their own initiative and engagement in society, economy and politics. The individual is not primarily seen as the future jobholder or employer, but rather as the socially responsible person who must look after both the individual and the collective interests of the economy, fellow humans and the environment.

This resulted in a study, which a team at the Georg Eckert Institute developed on behalf of the New Social Market Initiative (INSM). The goal of the study was to examine to what extent and in which way economy, enterprise and entrepreneurs are covered in textbooks and what values are conveyed in this coverage. Particular interest was also placed on the question of whether students are guided towards entrepreneurial behavior. Lastly, we resolved what role textbooks allot to the state: should the state stay out of the economy or should the state govern it? Is the individual ultimately responsible for his or her own social security or must the state guarantee the welfare of its citizens through interfering in the economy?

The study examined almost 150 German, English and Swedish textbooks from the years 1997 to 2007. History, geography and civics books were included and it was the most comprehensive comparative study on the image of the economy in European textbooks thus far. The findings can be considered representative and they cast prevalent presumptions into doubt. Broad consideration of the economy and enterprise is found in the textbooks of all three countries. Questions of economic order, corporate structures and economic policy are intensively discussed. The presuppositions that the market economy and entrepreneurship would be generally negatively portrayed in the textbooks did not prove true.

German, English and Swedish textbooks identify themselves with a free market order. They demand, however, the subordination of the economy to the interests of the state and society. At the same time the textbooks from all three countries go to great lengths to encourage students to self-dependent action, and in the process place differing stresses:

In German textbooks the role of the state in the economy is especially highlighted. Society is viewed as the collaboration of the individuals in the state. Students should be enabled to analyze their own interests without losing sight of other standpoints, to act on one’s own authority and to lobby for society and the environment in the process.

In English textbooks the role of the individual in society is more strongly emphasized and the state is conceived as the implementation instrument for economic and societal goals. Students should learn to actively and responsibly take part in political decision-making as well as in the economic process.

In Swedish textbooks the state is interpreted as the embodiment of the welfare ideal, employees and employers participate in this in their respective roles. Individual self-determination and state intervention appear not as opposites but rather as complementary prerequisites of the common good. Students should be enabled to respond flexibly to changes, to pursue individual economic interests and thereby to supply their contribution to the prosperity of society.

It is noteworthy that national traditions are reflected in these differences. The understanding of state and society, formed over generations in the individual nations, is apparently more important for the depiction of the economy in textbooks than the ideological attitude towards the market economy and entrepreneurs. National value systems also play an important role in the age of European unification and economic globalization. Future European textbooks must factor in these differences if they really want to get through to the students in the various European countries.

The study “Entrepreneur and State in European Textbooks. Germany, England and Sweden in Comparison” was developed on behalf of the New Social Market Economy Initiative (INSM) and was officially presented at a press conference in Berlin on June 24, 2008.

Project Chair:

Project Team: Viola Driehorst M.A., cand. phil. Thorben Messinger, Jens Schütz M.A., Jelena Steigerwald M.A.

Project Sponsor: Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft