Institutionalist perspectives on the dynamics of post-conflict education reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This study aims to outline the educational reforms that have been taking place in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) since the late 1990s and to explain the ideological and social dynamics shaping their implementation at the local level. The theoretical framework informing the analysis is in line with institutionalism, in particular three of its currently much-discussed variants. While sociological neo-institutionalism and historical institutionalism tend to focus on macro-level dynamics, discursive institutionalism rather focuses on actors' ideas and their interactions. Discursive institutionalism is useful in analysing the case of BiH— in particular, in discussing its system of community-based school governance because a diverse range of actors, including international agencies, national policymakers, school leaders, and community representatives, have been involved in enacting global norms and reforms. This paper then outlines how the current community-based school governance system has reached an institutional standoff wherein these diverse actors' motives, behaviours and meaning-making processes all intersect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]