The transitioning of armed actors into political parties following a peace accord is not a new phenomenon and the debate for how we can facilitate such a transition is well explored. A grey area of the debate, however, concerns transitioned actors’ long-term commitment to peace, as relapses are known to have occurred on many occasions. How are successful transitions sustained and what are the facilitating mechanisms? Through a case study of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland, this thesis aims to contribute to the very limited debate on the facilitation of peace continuity of transitioned actors. Interviews were conducted in Belfast during the fall of 2018. The present-time contextual changes posed by the United Kingdom exiting the European union, which endangers the 1998 peace agreement that helped facilitate Sinn Féin’s transition, provides a good case for studying the institutional resilience to violent relapse of a transitioned actor. The findings show that Sinn Féin display strong levels of institutional resilience, which can help the institution to abstain from relapses into violence caused by contextual changes such as Brexit.

In Northern Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement brought with it a great deal of attention and initiatives to construct and increase intergroup contact and shared spaces in an effort to reconcile divided nationalist/Catholic and unionist/Protestant communities. In the time following this peace agreement, the Belfast Giants ice hockey team was established, and in their 16 years as a team they have become one of the most attended spectator activities in Belfast, trending away from the tribalism, single-space, single-class, and single-gender dynamics of modern sport in Northern Ireland. This thesis research followed the supporters of the Belfast Giants throughout the 2015-2016 ice hockey season to better understand the encounters across historical divisions that are occurring in the Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) Arena. The research of this PhD thesis is directed by the concepts of social capital, intergroup contact, and civility. These concepts, when placed within the context of divided society, contribute to the thesis' guiding analytical framework, which offers thematic guideposts in areas of prejudice and anxiety, tolerance and trust, space and identity. Influenced by in-depth qualitative research that seeks to access local voices, this research takes the conceptual and analytical guidance into the stands of the SSE Arena. In this way, the unique 'side-by-side' methodology, which involved conducting interviews with the person in the seat to my left or right at Belfast Giants ice hockey games while immersing myself in the supporter community, emerged as not only a contribution to unearthing new voices in this oft-studied region, but also as an innovative contribution to qualitative methodological literatures. Beyond the methodological contribution, this thesis makes two further contributions to existing academic literatures on post-peace agreement relationships. The first of these is through the clear relationship between identity and space that are evident in its findings. Between the poles of conflict and reconciliation are the complex and simple interactions, which when placed in the SSE Arena at a Belfast Giants game illustrate the multi-layered and fluid nature of identity. The thesis finds the hockey arena is a space where a shared identity, 'the hockey family', materialises and includes nationalist and unionist populations. This shared identity is deeply connected to a physical place and activity that are situated outside the all-encompassing nature of division in present-day Belfast. However, within the unusual setting of an ice hockey arena in Northern Ireland there emerges ordinariness in encounter across historical cleavage, and from these mundane interactions comes the final contribution 'side-by-sidedness'. Influenced by supporters' willingness to sit side-by-side those on the opposite side of a historical division who they may not be willing to live beside, this theme is framed as a lightened encounter that challenges assumptions inherent in post-peace agreement settings. The research findings frame the SSE Arena as a site of sanctuary from polarised sectarian identities and activities, as well as a site of resistance from overarching peace agendas that push shared space and seek reconciliation. Side-by-sidedness exists in the everyday between these two poles. In highlighting this space between, this theme challenges the assumptions of 'face-to-faceness' that are inherent across the three concepts informing this thesis and through utilising notions of everyday peace and everyday division to include the relational, the spatial and the metaphorical, this thesis' meta-theme frames a new way of 'getting on with it' in the shadows of conflict.

<p>Abstract</p><p>A Problem to Every Solution</p><p>The Corrymeela Community, René Girard and the ambiguous pluralism</p><p>The main purpose of this study is to examine how Girard´s ideas of society, culture and</p><p>religion have become part of the reflexion in the praxis of Corrymeela Community through the work of Roel Kaptein and how this praxis can shed light over the work with dissonances of faith and values in education in RE, Social Studies and other subjects.</p><p>In earlier publications I have studied how dissonances of faith and values can be</p><p>understood in educational settings and in connection with issues of interreligious dialogue.</p><p>The extensive discussion of how differences in culture, religion and value in a pluralistic</p><p>society are to be analysed and treated in pedagogical reflexion seems to increasingly occupy</p><p>actors in different parts of the educational system. It is obvious that these issues also are</p><p>brought into focus as an important field of research. My main interest in this paper is to study how a reconciliation group in the middle of the conflict in Northern Ireland has developed a view of conflict reason and conflict resolution under the influence of the French researcher René Girard and what aspects of this study that can improve the reflection over pluralism and dissonances of faith and values in everyday praxis in education.</p><p>For a period of more than a decade I have been in contact with actors in the peace process in</p><p>Northern Ireland in connection to different educational projects. The attempts to analyse the different aspects of ”The Troubles” and the efforts to find ways out of conflicts and civil war are many and the literature on subjects related to these tragic history of social, cultural and religious conflicts is difficult to survey. An interesting and continuing reflexion on conflicts in relation to dissonances of faith and value has been carried out by the ecumenical group “Corrymeela Community”. It has its main centre in Belfast and the members are mainly lay people in different professions. The community is dispersed but meet regularly in the centre of Belfast or in a centre in Ballycastle up at the northern coast.</p><p>René Girard is a member of the French Academy. In his books that touch upon Anthropology,</p><p>Literature Theory, Philosophy and Theology he defends a hypotheses about “ Things Hidden</p><p>Since the Foundation of the World”, as the title reads of one of his books. The conflicts</p><p>among men must be understood in the light of a elaborated mimesis-theory, where the desire</p><p>to acquire what the Other desires leads to rivalry and scapegoating. Cultures arise through</p><p>rules and rituals as a way of structuring social life and thereby avoid the otherwise inevitable</p><p>crises that lead to repeated scapegoating of individuals or groups. From analysing myths,</p><p>literature of fiction and biblical texts he has developed the hypotheses to illuminate how</p><p>conflicts are related to culture and religion.</p>

Abstract A Problem to Every Solution The Corrymeela Community, René Girard and the ambiguous pluralism The main purpose of this study is to examine how Girard´s ideas of society, culture and religion have become part of the reflexion in the praxis of Corrymeela Community through the work of Roel Kaptein and how this praxis can shed light over the work with dissonances of faith and values in education in RE, Social Studies and other subjects. In earlier publications I have studied how dissonances of faith and values can be understood in educational settings and in connection with issues of interreligious dialogue. The extensive discussion of how differences in culture, religion and value in a pluralistic society are to be analysed and treated in pedagogical reflexion seems to increasingly occupy actors in different parts of the educational system. It is obvious that these issues also are brought into focus as an important field of research. My main interest in this paper is to study how a reconciliation group in the middle of the conflict in Northern Ireland has developed a view of conflict reason and conflict resolution under the influence of the French researcher René Girard and what aspects of this study that can improve the reflection over pluralism and dissonances of faith and values in everyday praxis in education. For a period of more than a decade I have been in contact with actors in the peace process in Northern Ireland in connection to different educational projects. The attempts to analyse the different aspects of ”The Troubles” and the efforts to find ways out of conflicts and civil war are many and the literature on subjects related to these tragic history of social, cultural and religious conflicts is difficult to survey. An interesting and continuing reflexion on conflicts in relation to dissonances of faith and value has been carried out by the ecumenical group “Corrymeela Community”. It has its main centre in Belfast and the members are mainly lay people in different professions. The community is dispersed but meet regularly in the centre of Belfast or in a centre in Ballycastle up at the northern coast. René Girard is a member of the French Academy. In his books that touch upon Anthropology, Literature Theory, Philosophy and Theology he defends a hypotheses about “ Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World”, as the title reads of one of his books. The conflicts among men must be understood in the light of a elaborated mimesis-theory, where the desire to acquire what the Other desires leads to rivalry and scapegoating. Cultures arise through rules and rituals as a way of structuring social life and thereby avoid the otherwise inevitable crises that lead to repeated scapegoating of individuals or groups. From analysing myths, literature of fiction and biblical texts he has developed the hypotheses to illuminate how conflicts are related to culture and religion.

No description available.

This thesis presents an analysis of adult education programs concerned with reconciliation, and more specifically with reconciliation pedagogy used by community organisations in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland for many years was the site of inter-ethnic violence expressed through sectarian and paramilitary presence, but has moved towards a more peaceful, civil society in recent years. This thesis investigates how the role of the citizen-subject in the new Northern Ireland is constituted in adult education programs and how funding regimes govern such community relations initiatives. The thesis offers a critical analysis of interviews with tutors, participants, designers and managers involved in a selected peace and reconciliation course. A broader view on reconciliation pedagogy and curriculum in anti-sectarian adult education in Northern Ireland leads to a closer exploration of social practices and power relations surrounding the chosen course, while drawing upon selected aspects of social theory, Foucauldian discourse analysis and concepts of governmentality. The analysis revealed that the chosen anti-sectarian course, ‘Us and Them’ (Workers Educational Association), proposes individualisation and responsibilisation as alternatives to community identities and nationalistic myths of origins. Equal rights are interpreted as equal rights to cultural expressions, and culture is continuously privileged over other structural differentials in Northern Ireland such as poverty, class or colour. ‘Us and Them’ is one component of a large machinery of projects designed to address the conflict situation in Northern Ireland. This machinery finds its centre in the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council, which privileges certain knowledges based on cultural consociationalism over others and which distributes funds for peace and reconciliation projects accordingly. Furthermore,the thesis examines how contemporary policy papers addressing community relations shape discourses found in anti-sectarian strategies and the rationales, strategies and policies informing “Us and Them’. The aim of the analysis is to explore the power and potential (and the limitations) of individualisation and responsibilisation as techniques in peace and reconciliation pedagogy in post-settlement ethnic conflict situations.

This thesis presents an analysis of adult education programs concerned with reconciliation, and more specifically with reconciliation pedagogy used by community organisations in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland for many years was the site of inter-ethnic violence expressed through sectarian and paramilitary presence, but has moved towards a more peaceful, civil society in recent years. This thesis investigates how the role of the citizen-subject in the new Northern Ireland is constituted in adult education programs and how funding regimes govern such community relations initiatives. The thesis offers a critical analysis of interviews with tutors, participants, designers and managers involved in a selected peace and reconciliation course. A broader view on reconciliation pedagogy and curriculum in anti-sectarian adult education in Northern Ireland leads to a closer exploration of social practices and power relations surrounding the chosen course, while drawing upon selected aspects of social theory, Foucauldian discourse analysis and concepts of governmentality. The analysis revealed that the chosen anti-sectarian course, ‘Us and Them’ (Workers Educational Association), proposes individualisation and responsibilisation as alternatives to community identities and nationalistic myths of origins. Equal rights are interpreted as equal rights to cultural expressions, and culture is continuously privileged over other structural differentials in Northern Ireland such as poverty, class or colour. ‘Us and Them’ is one component of a large machinery of projects designed to address the conflict situation in Northern Ireland. This machinery finds its centre in the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council, which privileges certain knowledges based on cultural consociationalism over others and which distributes funds for peace and reconciliation projects accordingly. Furthermore,the thesis examines how contemporary policy papers addressing community relations shape discourses found in anti-sectarian strategies and the rationales, strategies and policies informing “Us and Them’. The aim of the analysis is to explore the power and potential (and the limitations) of individualisation and responsibilisation as techniques in peace and reconciliation pedagogy in post-settlement ethnic conflict situations.

Thesis (D.C.A.)--University of Wollongong, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 173-188.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2006. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Lee, Doowan. "December 2008." Description based on title screen as viewed on January 28, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-133). Also available in print.