This open access book critically explores the intersections of education, conflict, war and peace, focusing on how global actors intervene in education systems in crisis. Drawing on diverse case studies and theoretical perspectives, it examines the geopolitics of international assistance, refugee education, and peacebuilding. The volume is organised into three parts: the first analyses the positioning of international organisations and multistakeholder initiatives; the second investigates refugee education policies, funding and narratives; and the third considers peace education and post-conflict transitions. Written by a diverse group of scholars and practitioners from across the world, the chapters interrogate colonial legacies, global governance, and the political economy shaping education in emergencies, revealing both its potential for transformation and its complicity in reproducing inequality. This open access book is essential reading for scholars, policymakers and practitioners seeking to understand educations role in conflict-affected contexts and its implications for sustainable peace and social justice.
1. The Geopolitics of International Interventions in Education:
Introduction.- Part I The Complex Positionings of International
Organisations.-
2. Unmasking the Ecosystem: Tensions, Influences and
Perspectives of Education Programme Designers in Conflict and Crisis.-
3.
Educational Programs of International Organizations in Conflict-Affected
Cameroon and Nigeria: Band-Aids or Problem Solvers?.-
4. Philanthropy and
Multistakeholder Initiatives in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States:
Examining the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait.-
Part II Refugee Education and Scholarship Programmes: Funding, Policies and
Narratives.-
5. Beyond the Surface: A Critical Discourse Analysis of UNHCRs
Global Refugee Education Strategy.-
6. Discursive legacies: The politics of
international assistance to UNRWAs education program, 1950-2000.-
7.
Scholarships for Palestinians in a Historical and Contemporary Perspective.-
Part III Learning for the Future: Peace Education and Post-conflict
Transition.-
8. The Desegregation of Formal Education and Settlement Accords:
Examining the cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Northern Ireland.-
9.
Navigating International Interventions: Gaps and Gains in Peace Research and
Practice in Post-National Accord Kenya.-
10. Convivial Epistemes: Pedagogies
of Enmity and Performatives of Postcolonial Cohesion.
Mario Novelli is Professor in the Political Economy of Education at the Centre for International Education, University of Sussex, UK and Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research examines educations links to armed conflict, globalisation, and social movements, with a focus on policy processes through a critical political economy lens.
