This book explores the nexus between education and politics in Lebanon, Northern Ireland, and Macedonia, drawing from an extensive body of original evidence and literature on power-sharing and post-conflict education in these post-conflict societies, as well as the repercussions that emerged from the end of civil war. This book demonstrates that education policy affects the resilience of political settlements by helping reproduce and reinforce the mutually exclusive religious, ethnic, and national communities that participated in conflict and now share political power. Using curricula for subjects—such as history, citizenship education, and languages—and structures like the existence of state-funded separate or common schools, Fontana shows that power-sharing constrains the scope for specific education reforms and offers some suggestions for effective ones to aid political stability and reconciliation after civil wars.

The book investigates the politics of education in pre- and post-genocide Rwanda, examining the actors, interests, and discourses that have historically influenced educational policy and practice and in particular the production and revision of history curricula and textbooks.This study combines a systematic historical and comparative analysis of curricula and textbooks in Rwanda, stakeholder interviews, classroom observations, and a large-scale investigation of pupils' understandings of the country's history. Written at a crucial time of transition in Rwanda, it illuminates the role of education as a powerful means of socialisation through which dominant discourses and related belief systems have been transmitted to the younger generations, thus moulding the nation. It outlines emergent challenges and possibilities, urging a move away from the use of history teaching to disseminate a conveniently selective official history towards practices that promote critical thinking and reflect the heterogeneity characteristic of Rwanda's post-genocide society.

Combining peace and conflict studies with public administration research, Divided Cities critically investigates the roles of public administration and civil servants in resolving issues that are potentially conflictual in divided societies. Zooming in on nine cities with very different legacies and democratic development - Copenhagen, Malmö, Toronto, Belfast, Mostar, Cape Town, Mitrovica, Nicosia, and Jerusalem - the contributors analyze the tools, strategies, and understandings of conflict resolution that are available in different stages between conflict and stability. Exploring how contested issues have been addressed, by whom, and to what effect, this collection of essays examines how public institutions and citizens have interacted to agree on the best course of action for progress in their respective cities.

As a conflict ends and the parties begin working towards a durable peace, practitioners and peacebuilders are faced with the thrilling possibilities and challenges of building new or reformed political, security, judicial, social, and economic structures. This Handbook analyzes these elements of post-conflict state building through the lens of international law, which provides a framework through which the authors contextualize and examine the many facets of state building in relation to the legal norms, processes, and procedures that guide such efforts across the globe. The volume aims to provide not only an introduction to and explanation of prominent topics in state building, but also a perceptive analysis that augments ongoing conversations among researchers, lawyers, and advocates engaged in the field.

This publication contains a number of paper which explore educational issues in societies emerging from violent conflict situations, including Bosnia, Guatemala, Lebanon, Northern Ireland and Rwanda. The papers examine the role of education in contributing to reconciliation and peacebuilding, and the challenges in curriculum policy including the determination of language policies in multilingual and multicultural societies, the teaching of national history, and the development of a sense of common citizenship and share identity.