THE CONCEPT OF STATE IN THE SOCIOLOGY’S TEXTBOOKS AT HIGH SCHOOL

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify the ways in which the State is presented on sociology’s textbooks at high school. More precisely, to assay if textbooks mention the State and how the referencing is done; to investigate whether books make conceptual clippings based on authors or refer to a theoretical system; check if there are different treatments in the books or if there is a consensus on the conceptual definitions and authors cited. This project was developed based on qualitative research. The documental source reviewed was composed of the six Sociology’s textbooks approved by the Programa Nacional do Livro e Material Didático – 2015: 1) Sociologia para o ensino médio, 2) Tempos modernos, tempos de Sociologia, 3) Sociologia hoje, 4) Sociologia para jovens no século XXI e 5) Sociologia. The paper concludes that the concept of state is present in all textbooks examined. Each book presents diverse interpretations, with the predominance of the definitions of two of the classics of sociological thought, namely Marx and Weber. Concepts such as citizenship, power, and social class are related to the concept of state in most books.