Yugoslavia and her ethnic groups : national identity and the educational arena

Abstract

Educational and cultural policies are not designed in isolation of
broader social and political contexts. An examination of such policies in
the former Yugoslavia reveals that various officials and intellectuals used
the educational arena as a site in which to manipulate and foster
“national identity” in a manner that would serve larger political and
social objectives. Analysis of the educational arena during three distinct
historical periods illuminates the conflicts and the ways in which
educational and cultural policies both mirrored political and social
objectives and fueled and reinforced ethnic nationalism.