Description
Does the presence of rebel educational services encourage the adoption of education provisions in intrastate peace agreements? While studies on rebel governance have largely focused on civil war dynamics and post-conflict conditions, few works have considered how the services offered by insurgent groups impact on the design of peace accords, and how education reforms figure in these documents.
Looking at a comprehensive dataset of civil conflicts from 1989 to 2012, our results show that when rebel groups offer educational services during a conflict, warring actors are less likely to include education provisions in their peace agreements. We argue that this is because states are unwilling to officially recognize and legitimize the rebels’ provision of highly valued services to the population. Drawing on the case studies of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, we argue that this unwillingness results either in rebels continuing to handle education in their own territories or in the state imposing its control over education in previously rebel-held areas.
