How students in Jajce mobilised to prevent a new division, and what this means for beyond-ethnic movements in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

This thesis examines how a youth-led coalition in Jajce mobilised to stop the 2016–17 proposal to segregate secondary schooling and what this reveals about the possibilities and limits of beyond-ethnic contention in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Situated in a fragmented, ethnically structured education system in which “Two Schools Under One Roof” persists, Jajce is unusual in having retained unified secondary schools even as primary education was split. Using a dynamic social movement perspective, the study analyses how actors read political and discursive opportunity structures, framed and counter-framed their claims, signalled worthiness, unity, numbers and commitment, and produced policy and prefigurative effects—and whether these diffused or were contained. A single, illustrative case study draws primarily on semi-structured interviews with participants, supplemented by movement materials and contemporary media coverage. Findings show mobilisation emerged at the intersection of national closure and local openings: everyday coexistence in Jajce, trusted student–teacher ties, and public performances enabled a broad youth-led coalition to raise political costs and secure withdrawal of the plan—a rare reversal of segregative policy through collective action. Yet the impact was local and partial; entrenched institutional arrangements, including TSUOR and fragmented authority, curtailed wider integration and limited diffusion. The case clarifies how non-ethnic claims can be articulated and defended in constrained settings and identifies strategic levers—and limits—for future efforts to expand integrated schooling in BiH.