Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 287-298).

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To understand the complexity of life in a city one needs to consider a spectrum of experience. Belfast has a history of conflict and division, particularly in relation to the Troubles, reflected in comprehensive academic studies of how this has affected, and continues to affect, the citizens. But this is a particular mode of representation, a vision of life echoed in fictional literature. People's quotidian lives can and do transcend the grand narratives of the Troubles that have come to dominate these discourses. Anthropology has traditionally accorded less epistemological weight to fleeting and superficial encounters with strangers, but this mode of sociality is a central feature of life in the city. The modern stranger navigates these relationships with relative ease. Communicating with others through narrative – personal stories about our lives – is fundamental to what it is to be human, putting storytelling at the heart of anthropological study. Engagements with strangers may be brief encounters or build into acquaintanceship, but these superficial relationships are not trivial. How we interact with strangers – our public presentation of the self to others through the personal stories we share – can give glimpses into the private lives of individuals. Listening to stories of quotidian life in Belfast demonstrates a range of people's existential dilemmas and joys that challenges Troubled representations of life in the city. The complexity, size and anonymity of the city means the anthropologist needs different ways of reaching people; this thesis is as much about exploring certain anthropological methodologies as it is about people and a place. Through methods of walking, performance, human-animal interactions, my body as a research subject, and using fictional literature as ethnographic data, I interrogate the close relationship between method, data and analysis, and of knowledge-production and knowledge-dissemination. I present quotidian narratives of Belfast's citizens that are Not-the-Troubles.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1991.

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The contexts of Seamus Heaney's writing have been routinely noted but their critical interrogation has, to date, been limited. This thesis resituates Heaney's work to reassert the significance of his writing in its varied times and places. Its aim is to revive the web of connections within which Heaney's work was written, published, and received, and this accounts for the "society" of the title. While the idea of society as entity remains important, the word is employed primarily as a capacious guiding principle. Society's adjective, social, is always connected: to be "social" in any sense is always to be implicated in a wider context or contexts. A central ambition has been to reappraise Heaney's work in relation to the situation in Northern Ireland during the three decades under consideration. A trend in criticism has been to offer reductive contextual accounts which risk depreciating the value of a historicist approach. This thesis demonstrates instead how Heaney's work is implicated in textual, cultural, and institutional networks which were themselves conditioned by the unique circumstances in Northern Ireland. It considers: the London publishing scene on which his work emerged; his relationship to Belfast mediated through television documentary; his radio work for the BBC Northern Ireland Schools Service; his relationship to Derry mediated through photography; and ideas of audience, address, and redress in his Oxford lectures. Participating in the increasingly interdisciplinary treatment of literature within and beyond Irish Studies, the literary analysis at the heart of this project is undertaken within a broader framework of cultural criticism. The significance of this contribution lies not solely in its acts of historical recovery, but in the critical reorientation these permit. By locating Heaney as a respondent in varied public arenas we can understand the genesis not only of his work but of the international establishment literary figure he became.

This dissertation examines the methods, influence, and effectiveness of clergy peacebuilders in Northern Ireland during the violent conflict known as "The Troubles," through the signing of the peace agreement and the first decade post-agreement. Twenty-one clergy, all committed to ameliorating the conflict, were interviewed once for approximately ninety minutes regarding their theological motivations, activism efforts, constraints, and perceived effectiveness. Interviewees include eight Methodist, eight Church of Ireland, three Roman Catholic, one Presbyterian, one ecumenical order, and one evangelical parachurch clergy. Analysis of the interviews revealed strong theological similarities of inclusivity and dedication to living one's beliefs despite denominational differences; however, clergy expressed a range of views on Manichaeism and pacifism/Just War theory. They also experienced a range of direct and indirect violence. These factors increased their perceived risk of activism and shaped their ministerial approach and effectiveness. The context of conflict, which predisposes parishioners to prefer certain leadership styles, and clergy access to expert, referent, and legitimate power also affected clergy influence and activism. The study argues that, as a whole, activist clergy possess a particularly favorable platform for successful outgroup exposure due to high group salience and boundary de-emphasis. Typical clergy peacebuilding activities influence individuals, structures, and communities. Also, clergy influence through indirect outgroup contact, ripple effects, and synergism, decreases hostility and increases the possibilities of achieving peace. Clergy use of "soft power" lets them operate in a democratic deficit, helps build trust, improves the quality of negotiations and agreements, ameliorates identity conflict, and enhances stability. This study, the first conducted among a range of activist clergy in Northern Ireland, concludes that in order to optimize peace efforts, secular interest groups should cooperate with clergy peacebuilders. Moreover, denominations and seminaries should consciously augment clergy expert, referent, and legitimate power and reduce clergy fears of perceived professional risk resulting from activism. The thesis adds to Peace/Conflict studies by providing in-depth insight into the various capabilities, constraints, and the significance of civil society/religious peacebuilders.

Review of The Troubles and Their Aftermath: James B. Johnston's Memories of Northern Ireland by James B. Johnson