History Textbooks in Post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

In this paper we study the history textbooks that are being used in primary and grammar schools in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. The analysis is based on the findings of empirical research carried out in the period 1997-1999. The results of this research indicate that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, although it is a single country, three kinds of history textbooks have been in use. These textbooks reflect the ethnic division into three distinct ethnic entities: the Bosniac, Croatian and Serbian entities. Each has its own, ethnically oriented, textbooks. Contributing more to the creation of a closed, ethnocentric identity than to an identity open to diversity, these textbooks serve more as a disintegrative than integrative factor in the post-war reconstruction period that has characterised social life in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore, radical changes are needed in terms of curricula harmonisation, as well as the development of content appropriate materials for the education of Bosnia's youth so that it can fully participate in a democratic and pluralistic society.