“Us” vs. “Them”: a systematic analysis of history textbooks in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina across three ethnic educational programmes

Abstract

Background: Post-war education in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been labelled in contemporary literature as segregated, where children are divided into three ethnic groups (Bosnian Croats, Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnjaks) and taught an ethnicity-based curriculum that reinforces negative stereotypes of ‘.others’.Aims: The present study examines the content of a large number of textbooks covering all three educational programmes (for 8th and 9th grades, and up to the 4th grade of high school), with the aim of deconstructing the discursive strategies that three ethnic groups use to promote their nationalistic agendas.Methods: The study is based on exploratory content analysis and the identification of dominant codes that characterize the data material.Results: As expected, the results show that selected books powerfully project a strong message of ‘us’ in contrast to ‘them’. However, the narration differs, with Croatian textbooks using distancing, Serbian domination, and Bosnjak denying and possessive strategies. All three build a narrative of (1) celebrating ‘us’, (2) devaluing ‘them’, and (3) being victimized by the two other groups.Conclusions: Recommendations for history textbooks that would be suitable for all children in BiH are made. The present paper clearly concludes that comprehensive educational reform is a necessary element to initiate changes in the country.

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