“Nationalism and Education: A Case Study of Bosnia and Herzegovina” by Midhat Kapo is one of the rare research works that provides an overview of education and schooling in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the time of the Ottoman occupation to the present day, and therefore, along with all the other praise, deserves to be bound and offered as indispensable literature to future researchers.

The emphasis in the work is placed on the period of recent history, that is, on recent policies within the education system, as well as on the period that preceded them. The research covers the relationship between “education for all” and local ethno-nationalist policies, and offers models through which this relationship can be overcome.

The research is summarized in five large sections, from the introduction (Education between the needs of society and politics) to the concluding considerations (Education as an instrument for the pacification of the ethnopolis). Between the two mentioned, the author devoted himself to topics within the chapter “Education within sociological thought: From an ideological apparatus to an instrument of development”, “The role of education in the construction of new political identities in the South Slavic area until 1918”, “Case study: Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina under the burden of ethno-nationalism (1996 – 2007)”.

The author points to the goal that must be the focus of the next initiatives to solve the complex problem of the education system: a break with the deep-rooted tradition of national divisions and the use of education for political purposes. By finally breaking with this fruitless tradition, there could be a final revival of a society whose education is one of the strongest weapons for change.

The Open Society Foundation BiH is signed as the publisher, and the book was published during the summer of 2012 as part of the Education Support Program.


[Bosnian]

Nacionalizam i obrazovanje: studija slučaja Bosna i Hercegovina

”Nacionalizam i obrazovanje: studija slučaja Bosna i Hercegovina” Midhata Kape jedan je od rijetkih istraživačkih radova koji daje pregled obrazovanja i školstva u Bosni i Hercegovini od doba osmanske okupacije do danas, pa je, uz sve druge pohvale, i zbog toga zaslužio da bude ukoričen i ponuđen kao nezaobilazna literatura budućim istraživačima.

Akcenat u radu stavljen je na period novije historije, odnosno na recentne politike unutar obrazovnog sistema, kao i na period koji im je prethodio. Istraživanje obuhvata odnose između ”obrazovanja za sve” i ovdašnjih etnonacionalističkih politika, te nudi modele kroz koje se taj odnos može prevazići.

Istraživanje je sažeto u pet velikih cjelina, od uvoda (Obrazovanje između potreba društva i politike) do zaključnih razmatranja (Obrazovanje kao instrument pacifikacije etnopolisa). Između navedena dva, autor se posvetio temama unutar poglavlja “Obrazovanje unutar sociološke misli: Od ideološkog aparata do instrumenta razvoja”, “Uloga obrazovanja u konstrukciji novih političkih identiteta na južnoslavenskom prostoru do 1918.”, “Studija slučaja: Obrazovanje u Bosni i Hercegovini pod teretom etnonacionalizama (1996. – 2007.)”

Autor ukazuje na cilj koji mora biti fokus u sljedećim inicijativama rješavanja zamršenog problema obrazovnog sistema: prekid sa duboko ukorijenjenjenom tradicijom nacionalnih podjela i korištenja obrazovanja u političke svrhe. Konačnim raskidom sa ovom besplodnom tradicijom, moglo bi doći do finalnog preporoda društva čije je obrazovanje jedno od najjačih oružja za promjenu.

Fond otvoreno društvo BiH se potpisuje kao izdavač, a knjiga je objavljena tokom ljeta 2012. godine u sklopu Programa podrške obrazovanju.