Social representations of Mexican free textbooks through internet memes: A dimensión of educational policy

Abstract

In Mexico, since 1959, primary school students have been required to use free textbooks (libros de texto gratuitos, or LTG in Spanish). These textbooks are produced by the State, and each revision has sparked controversy, often linked to claims that they disseminate ideologies and cultural patterns favorable to the political party in power. Between July and August 2023, a new controversy surrounding these materials emerged and spread across social media through internet memes. This article analyzes the social representations conveyed by some of the 138 memes that circulated on Facebook in connection with the 2023 LTG controversy. The aim is to demonstrate that memes circulating on social networking platforms have become an alternative arena in which disputes over educational policy take place and, at the same time, are imbued with social representations. The methodological approach was qualitative. The findings identify two main representations: the first portrays the textbooks of the Nueva Escuela Mexicana as instruments of indoctrination in communism and in the political thought of Andrés Manuel López Obrador; the second focuses on constructing an image of the critics of these educational materials.