Divided Societies

What divides and what unites an ethnically diverse citizenry? How can historical adversaries be motivated to deal justly with each other? Do multicultural policies cause ethnic conflict?  Or are they the very basis for wider loyalties?  These are just some of the questions addressed in this comprehensively researched account of solidarity in divided societies.  From the small and seemingly insignificant acts at the everyday level to the heady and determined activism of NGOs and international organisations, this book identifies promising new routes for the expansion of mutual responsibility in a world where ethnic conflict is enduring and pervasive

Deliberative democrats responding to the challenge of fostering reciprocity and civic friendship discourage in-group deliberations, taking them to stoke hostilities and preclude the possibility of sociability between groups. In opposition to these views, I argue that in-group deliberation presents itself as a promising, yet underappreciated, normative category for conflict transformation. I support this claim with reference to the observation that deliberative exchanges among like members are just as, if not more, consequential in the facilitation of positive actor transformations than deliberations among unlike members, especially when antipathy defines group relations.

In this article, the practice and theory of conditionality as it has applied to Bosnia and Macedonia is explored. The goals are twofold: first, to analyse how the EU uses conditionality to bring about favourable changes in the relationship between ethnic groups; second, to shed light on why the effectiveness of conditionality has been so variable between each context. The author argues that whereas the EU's main focus in previous eastward enlargements was on the production of normative policy outcomes, its primary focus in Bosnia and Macedonia has been to generate normative procedures. In addition, attention is drawn to the transformation of ethnic preferences that has occurred in Macedonia and the hardening of ethnic preferences that has occurred in Bosnia in the course of accession politics. These divergent outcomes are explained on the basis of several factors: power-shifts, framing strategies, reform parties and external agents.

This paper focuses on part of my PhD research which looks at identity and social change amongst young people in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland saw sustained political violence for over 30 years, ending in a peace agreement in the late 1990’s. My research focuses on young people who were born around this time and who are part of the first generation to have grown up in post-conflict Northern Ireland.
Fieldwork was carried out using a multi-sited ethnographic design in locations throughout Belfast and Derry-Londonderry. The sites reflected the social geography of Northern Ireland, and controlled for class and gender. Data was mainly collected through recorded interviews.
It is perhaps not surprising to find that young people perceive big changes in Northern Irish society. The biggest changes are in politics and in some aspects of social life. However, there remain a number of issues that have continued. Unemployment is seen as a bigger issue to young people than traditional issues such as sectarianism, which in some places has come to be seen as part of life. Traditions such as parading, and religiously-segregated schooling has also continued. The importance of religion has declined but this in contrast to a continued adherence to religiously defined identities. The results I have found throw light onto the ways in which young people, with no previous experience of past conflict, understand the past and navigate the post-conflict environment in a time of intense social transition in this corner of the United Kingdom.

An appropriate electoral system is necessary for stability in a divided country; it determines the circumstances in which political power is achieved. An electoral system can facilitate inclusion of the divided groups in society and can reward certain kinds of policies and strategies and punish others to promote political moderation. However this is not guaranteed, for an electoral system’s success is limited by the idiosyncrasies of each country, such as the number of divided groups, their geographical concentration and most significantly the level of the polarisation

Bringing together comparative case studies from Belfast, Beirut, Amsterdam and Berlin, this book examines the role of the urban environment in social polarisation processes. In doing so, it provides a timely and refreshingly innovative voice in the confusing babble on (counter-)terrorism, urban conflict and community cohesion. Despite their socio-political differences, these cities are telling cases of how the location and shape of very mundane objects such as rubbish bins, bridges, clothes’ stores, shopping malls and cafés - in addition to the obvious fences, walls and barbed wire - are often subject to heated controversies and influence the way urban conflict is 'lived' and practised.

Within a Science and Technology Studies (STS) theoretical framework, the authors provide a systematic analysis of these four cities and provide many concrete and richly illustrated examples of ‘material agency’ without losing sight of their specific historical, political, geographical and social conditions. The STS angle permits some surprising, yet extremely convincing, conclusions which are of use not only for a range of practitioners but also to scholars interested in the social shaping processes and the consequences of urban artefacts.

The authors argue that, although architecture and urban design is clearly not the sole cause of conflict and polarisation, neither is it completely innocent. Conversely, it cannot be the silver bullet to solve related problems and to create community cohesion. However, the materiality of our cities must not be ignored; in fact, it can and should be ‘enrolled’ in our efforts. The book contains detailed descriptions of such positive cases as inspiration for practitioners as diverse as policy makers, architects, urban designers, planners, community workers, consultants or police officers.