Using an analytic informed by Nietzschean genealogy and systems theory, this paper explains how two conceptual structures (the emancipatory binary and the progressive triad), along with standard citation practices in academic journal writing, function to sustain and regenerate a progressive perspective within social studies education scholarship. Exemplary essays, drawn from social studies education scholarship from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s are presented and examined in reference to the function of the conceptual structures in the evolution of the discourse on citizenship in social studies education.