Exploring the Politics of Reconciliation through Education Reform: The Case of Brcko District, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Truth, justice, and reconciliation on the ground: normative divergence in the Western Balkans

“…The Bosnian constitution that came out of the Dayton Peace Accords has decentralised education policy and placed it under the purview of local authorities (Jones 2012). As a consequence, education came to represent the ethnic politics of the majority ethnic group in a particular entity.…”

Building peaceful citizens? Nation-building in divided societies

“…This concept of liberal peace is rooted in Kantian thought and tied to efforts to promote democratisation, founded on the belief that 'democracies do not go to war with each other' (Mac Ginty 2008: 143). At its core liberal peace is concerned with exporting liberal democratic and market ideals to (post)conflict environments and the promotion of stability, justice and the entrenchment of human rights therein (Chandler, 2010;Richmond 2008aRichmond , 2008bJones 2012). Such efforts not only require international co-operation but also underpin the Westphalian political and global economic systems, as well as the security and development (pre)requisites of the liberal democratic system: in other words, serving to entrench the status quo of international geopolitics and power relations (Mac Ginty, 2008;Richmond, 2009).…”

Remembrance, Public Narratives, and Obstacles to Justice in the Western Balkans

“…In the aftermath of the Dayton Accords and the administrative partition of Bosnia, education policy has been decentralized and put in the hands of local authorities (Jones, 2012). Like everything else in postwar Bosnia, education has come to represent ethnic politics of the majority population in a particular region.…”