Phd Thesis Final Final
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New states challenged: education, peacebuilding and statebuilding in post- conflict Kosovo and East Timor Ervjola Selenica School of International Studies University of Trento 16/05/2016 Supervisor: Prof. Roberto Belloni Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Studies ABSTRACT The provision of education has been a core function legitimizing the modern nation-state. Behind education one finds the building of citizenship, between demands for social cohesion and national identification, as well as the preparation of the labour force for the national economy. The moulding of a working education system remains a key challenge for new states and states emerging from armed conflict. Qualitative and quantitative scholarly literature exploring the causal relationship between education and civil war leaves no doubt about the salience of education systems in conflict-affected states. While a vast body of studies exists on education and violent conflict, less attention has been devoted to the role of education in peacebuilding and statebuilding. Above all, little research has been conducted into how externally promoted efforts at rebuilding education systems may affect (or fail to affect) the consolidation of peace. This study focuses on the ways in which a variety of international actors shape national education systems in states that have emerged out of armed conflict, and how these systems reflect and affect peacebuilding and statebuilding. From these premises, I have conducted fieldwork in Kosovo and East Timor, two recent cases where major statebuilding and peacebuilding interventions have been launched. The research first has mapped education programming and reform by identifying the main actors that have been part of the process. Second, I have conceptualized the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of these reforms by analysing primary source documents and interviewing key local and international stakeholders. Finally, after identifying the emerging forms of education systems, I have critically analysed the ways in which externally assisted education have reflected and affected processes of building the state and consolidating peace. The research has found that post-war reconstruction in both cases has led to the emergence of externally-driven and hybrid education systems whereby priorities are set in the intersection between local and international actors, often lacking coordination. Presenting features of extra-territoriality and de-nationalization, such education systems are a combination of global education policies and contextual local agendas. Rather than bringing the education system out of fragility, international interventions have determined and perpetuated a condition of dependency on international assistance. Humanitarian and stability imperatives have determined educational choices and priorities and education 2 has neither addressed nor transformed root causes of the conflicts, missing the opportunity to contribute to social cohesion, change and justice. Overall, education has been a marginal sector within the broader political economy of peacebuilding and statebuilding, and a mere reflection of the principles and practices that underpin them. Rather than impacting on such processes, interventions in education in Kosovo and East Timor have reflected, legitimised and enhanced the prevailing models of peacebuilding and statebuilding, and in doing so, have incorporated their dilemmas, pitfalls and shortcomings. 3 Acknowledgements A thesis is like a river that is indebted to the flowing of several streams. Among all those scholars whom I have met at the School of International Studies, I would like to thank first and foremost my supervisor, Roberto Belloni. He provided me with reliable, valuable and dedicated support throughout my time at the University of Trento. I also want to thank the academic and administrative staff of the School of International Studies for their support and for the three-year scholarship without which this work would not have been possible. Special gratitude goes to my PhD fellows, who provided me with critical insights in the initial phase of this research: in particular Luca Montani for the light-hearted hours that helped us go through the first year of coursework and exams and for introducing me to Trento, Michela Albertazzi for exchanging novels and keeping our passion for literature alive, and Viktoria Akchurina for her intellectual rigour, academic reflections and personal trust. Over the years, I was fortunate to receive support from several people, in particular my informants and friends in Dili and Pristina, whose generous advice made my field research in Kosovo and East Timor possible. While I am not able to name all of them, I would like to thank Elisabetta Iberni, Alessandro Rotta, Linda Gusia, Vlera Kastrati, Tracey Alexandra Morgan and Vasco Molini, whose voice has affected and inspired this research. At the Peace Research Institute in Oslo I would like to thank Kristofer Liden, who hosted me as a visiting PhD member of the PRIO Research School on Peace and Conflict – which gave me the opportunity to receive valuble feedback on my research design and methods. I am also grateful to colleagues and friends with whom I shared reflections and insights at different stages of my research: Mieke Lopes Cardozo and Ritesh Shah for their search for a socially just and sustainable education and for the theoretical frameworks to unravel so; Gerd Junne for his warm and continuous support before and throughout these doctoral years: his words have deeply inspired me. With my mentor and MSc supervisor, Mario Novelli I have always had the chance to discuss my research development, a circumstance that encouraged me and helped me sharpen my focus. I am very grateful to him for introducing me to the field of education and conflict, for encouraging me to pursue a PhD, and for his strong belief and engagement in transformative, radical and just education. Special thanks go to my closest friends: Oltion Preka for his existential counseling and encouragement through all stages of writing; Lela Mosemghvdlishvili for our trips together, for sharing the burden of feeling self-encapsulated in PhD writing, with ups and downs, and for keeping alive our passion for dance theatre; and Alies Delchambre 4 for her trust and care. I am indebted to my parents and my family whose sacrifices have made my education possible. I am grateful to them for their support, help and for staying with Ester when I could not. Little Ester was born as I was writing this thesis: I kept her hostage for nine months as I was reflecting on education dilemmas, so she participated in the process, feeding me with her love as she was patiently observing me sitting at my desk. Most of all, I want to thank my husband Francesco Strazzari for always being next to me – from the first steps of conceiving the puzzle of my research – for sharing with me the burden and the bliss of doing research, throughout these years, for his precious and constructive criticism, for his trust and love. I dedicate this thesis to him. I hereby declare that the thesis I have presented for examination is solely my own work. Therefore, any error or omission is my sole responsibility. 5 Table of Contents List of acronyms ........................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................11 1. Education in international interventions: relevance, puzzle and focus................11 2. Research questions and research goals ..............................................................17 3. Outline of the dissertation .................................................................................23 CHAPTER 1. Globalised education between peacebuilding and statebuilding .............27 Part one: How education is affected by the macro-processes of globalisation, peacebuilding and statebuilding................................................................................28 1.1 The globalisation of education policies............................................................29 1.1.1 The definition of globalisation and how it affects education policy...........31 1.1.2 Theoretical perspectives on national education systems in a globalized world ................................................................................................................33 1.1.3 Critical cultural political economy of education........................................38 1.2 The ommission of education in debates on statebuilding and peacebuilding ....41 1.2.1 Liberal peacebuilding, peacebuilding from below and hybrid peace governance........................................................................................................44 1.2.2 What role for education in international statebuilding? .............................48 Part two: How education affects conflict, peacebuilding and social change ..............53 1.3 The nexus education-conflict: from ‘two faces’ to ‘many faces’......................55 1.4 Education and peacebuilding...........................................................................58 Part three: Developing a framework of analysis........................................................64 1.5 Education and social justice between reproduction and transformation............64 1.5.1 Access to education and prevention or relapse to war ...............................67