Research Modules
From Conflict Management to Conflict Resolution
Project lead: James Anderson, Liam O’Dowd
with: Milena Komarova
This module builds on other modules in focusing on a spectrum of different approaches to conflict management/resolution in Belfast. These approaches range from policing strategies (linking with Jerusalem's conflict management module), to the agonistic channelling of urban conflicts (connecting with Jerusalem's agonistic urbanism module). There is a particular concentration on instances of joint activities around non-national issues which span the ethnic and territorial divides of the national conflict; and an emphasis on the potential of 'resolution' strategies involving dialogue, mixing and co-operative ventures across ethno-national borders, now that Belfast is in a 'post-ceasefire' stage of conflict and given that the belated implementation of the 1998 Belfast Agreement brings new possibilities (and perhaps new difficulties) in transcending the traditional terms of the conflict. In this context, it is hoped to focus particularly on joint activities which emerge during the period of the project, and to analyse their impact on ethno-national divisions. But whether taking current or past examples, the research will cover joint activities around class issues (e.g., trade union struggles), consumption struggles (e.g., around the provision of public services), and so-called 'moral' issues involving gender and sexuality, all of which cross-cut (and potentially under-cut) religious, ethnic and national divisions. Research methods will include the use of archival sources, semi-structured interviews with key personnel in conflict management (e.g., senior police officers), interviews and focus groups with key actors and participants in joint activities, and participant observation.