This book investigates the history of responses to, engagements with and memories of the Northern Irish conflict in Britain, exploring the lessons to be learned from post-conflict efforts to 'deal with the past' in Northern Ireland and providing a starting point for wider academic and public debate in Britain on the significance of this history.
During the three decades of the Northern Ireland Troubles (1968-98), the United Kingdom experienced within its borders a profound and polarising conflict. Yet relatively little research has addressed the complex effects, legacies and memories of this conflict in Britain. The experiences and understandings of those in or from Britain who fought in it, were injured by it or campaigned against it have been neglected both in wider scholarship and in public policy. In the peace process since 1994, British initiatives towards 'post-conflict' remembering have been limited and fragmented.
This ground-breaking book provides the first comprehensive investigation of the history and memory of the Troubles in Britain. It examines the impact on individual lives, political and social relationships, communities and culture, and explores how the people of Britain - including its Irish communities - have responded to and engaged with the conflict in the context of the contested political narratives produced by the state and its opponents. Setting an agenda for further research and public debate, the book demonstrates that unfinished business from the conflicted past remains unaddressed and advocates the importance of acknowledging legacies, understanding histories and engaging with memories in the context of peace-building and reconciliation.
The Northern Ireland troubles in Britain features contributors from a wide range of scholarly disciplines -spanning law, literature, history, arts and culture - alongside activists, artists, writers, peace-builders and people with direct personal experience of the conflict. It is essential reading for students and scholars of British and Irish history and politics, but will also be of interest to policy-makers and professionals in the fields of conflict resolution, human rights, arts and media and those who have been affected by the Troubles.
