Northern Ireland after the troubles : a society in transition / edited by Colin Coulter and Michael Murray.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Coulter, Colin, 1966-

Murray, Michael.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Peace-building--Northern Ireland.

Peace-building.

Civilization.

Social conditions.

Northern Ireland--Politics and government--1998-.

Northern Ireland.

Politics and government.

Northern Ireland--Social conditions--21st century.

Northern Ireland--Civilization--21st century.

Physical Description:

xiii, 280 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester, UK ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed in the USA by Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Summary:

In the last generation, Northern Ireland has undergone a tortuous but nonetheless remarkable process of social and political change. The intention of this particular collection of essays is to capture the complex and shifting realities of a society as it moves between what often felt like war to what increasingly feels like peace.

Northern Ireland after the troubles brings together commentators from a range of academic backgrounds and political perspectives. The essays that open the collection focus upon those political divisions and disputes that are most readily associated with Northern Ireland. The remainder of the text, however, seeks to provide a broader focus than is conventionally found in books devoted to the region. The reader will encounter essays concerned with cultural identities - class, gender, race - and cultural practices - sport, popular music, visual media - that are essential to the formation and understanding of Northern Irish society but have often been neglected in academic analyses of the six counties.

While the contributors to the text often approach issues from rather different angles, they share a common conviction of the need to challenge the self-serving simplifications and choregographed optimism that frequently define both official discourse and media commentary on Northern Ireland. Taken together, the essays gathered together here are, therefore, intended to offer a comprehensive and critical account of a troubled society in the throes of change. The book will be of importance to people concerned with the recent course of social and political transition in Northern Ireland, as well as those interested in the process of transformation in divided societies more generally.

Contents:

Part I Political developments and divisions

2 Telling stories, facing truths: memory, justice and post-conflict transition / Patricia Lundy, Mark McGovern 29

3 From conflict to communal politics: the politics of peace / Jonathan Tonge 49

4 Belfast: a segregated city / Peter shirlow 73

5 Spatial planning in contested territory: the search for a place vision after the 'troubles' / William J. V. Neill, Geraint Ellis 88

6 Policing change: to reform or not to transform? / Mary O'Rawe 110

Part II Social identities

7 Religious change and persistence / Claire Mitchell 135

8 Gender and ethno-nationalist politics / Fidelma Ashe 156

9 The glacier moves? Economic change and class structure / Jim Smyth, Andreas Cebulla 175

10 Whiteness, racism and exclusion: a critical race perspective / Paul Connolly, Romana Khaoury 192

Part III Cultural practices

11 Still taking sides: sport, leisure and identity / Alan Bairner 215

12 From shellshock rock to ceasefire sounds: popular music / Sean Campbell, Gerry Smyth 232

13 House training the paramilitaries: the media and the propaganda of peace / Stephen Baker, Greg McLaughlin 253.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780719074400

0719074401

071907441X

9780719074417

OCLC:

181601615