Afterlives of the Troubles

Graham Dawson is Visiting Professor in INCORE (International Conflict Research Institute) at UlsterUniversity.

'This important book provides scholars and practitioners with new ways of understanding the enduring effects of the conflict and the possibilities for conflict transformation.The life stories at its centre are movingly interpreted using new frameworks of analysis. It is an exploration that opens up new fields of enquiry for future studies of individual and collective memories of the conflict. The book repudiates the discourse of moving on and shows the complex dynamics involved in the work of reconciliation and building peace in the long term.'Claire Hackett, Falls Community Council'This excellent book offers a fascinating account of the role of life narratives in negotiating the legacy of the Troubles. Based on decades-long research, it examines the multiple ways in which individuals on both sides of the communitarian divide remember the conflict. It is particularly strong in showing how emotion and attachments inflect these life stories and allow them to do memory work beyond the merely documentary. In showcasing the ingenuity of ordinary people in making sense of conflict, Dawson challenges the assumption, underlying policymaking in many so called ‘post-conflict’ societies, that memories can be orchestrated top-down so as to provide closure. As an alternative, he posits the value of vernacular storytelling in negotiating social relations over longer periods of time, arguing persuasively that community-based initiatives should receive more support. A worthy sequel to Dawson’s landmark Making Peace with the Past? (2008), Afterlives of the Troubles should be required reading for anyone interested in post-conflict transitions.' Ann Rigney, Professor emerita of Comparative Literature, Utrecht University'In Afterlives of the Troubles, Graham Dawson takes us on an intellectual journal that has been charted over many years. He revisits and reflects upon his work, positioning it and himself in ways that humanise and illuminate theoretical concepts and complex, nuanced research. What emerges is a captivating journey through the study of memory. This is a thoughtful, thought-provoking exploration of narrative temporality, the afterlives of emotion and the residues of conflict in ‘post-Troubles’ Northern Ireland. Afterlives of the Troubles underlines the singular nature of Dawson’s voice and will be invaluable to anyone interested in how memories of conflict have been theorised and in how experiential life stories provide the foundations for expansive ideas.' Roisín Higgins, Professor of History, Maynooth University

• Introduction: Afterlives of the Troubles: Life stories, 'post-conflict' culture and conflict transformation in Northern Ireland1 Where am I? Unsettling encounters in researching memory, subjectivity and conflict transformation after the Northern Irish Troubles2 The meaning of ‘moving on’: From trauma to the history and culture of feelings and emotions3 Masculinities and the affective afterlife of ‘the terrorist’ in conflict transformation: Representation, identity and intersubjectivity4 The desire for justice: Discourses of victimhood, psychic reparation, and the politics of memory5 Memoryscapes, spatial legacies of conflict, and the culture of historical reconciliation in ‘postconflict’ Belfast6 Memory, the afterlife of emotion, and the temporal politics of ‘post-conflict’ transition7 Storytelling in ‘post-conflict’ times: Experiential narrative, subjectivity and the temporal practice of community-based conflict transformation8 Memories of conflict and redevelopment at West Belfast interfaces: Complex temporalities and place-based structures of feeling in oral histories from the Dúchas Archive9 Oral history and the legacy of conflict: Policy, history-making and the afterlife of feeling in archived interviews of the Troubles