Education and Social Cohesion in a Post-Conflict and Divided Nation

Book excerpt: This book discusses education’s role of developing social cohesion in a post-conflict environment where tensions continue to exist between the three “constituent” ethnic groups. It offers fresh insights into the relationship between education and social cohesion in a specific context of Bosnia & Herzegovina, where the need to rebuild social trust is acutely felt. This book first elaborates the concept of social cohesion and illustrates possible mechanisms through which education can develop, or further erode, social cohesion in already divided societies. Then, it carefully examines such mechanisms, using a case study of a Bosnia & Herzegovina which witnessed violent conflict instigated by ethno-identity politics during 1992-1995, and has been struggling to reconstruct its broken social fabric since then.