Final Call for Papers

The Centre for Research in Memory, Narrative and Histories at the University of Brighton, the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester, and the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace are organising an inter-disciplinary conference which will consider the impact and lasting effects of the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ in Britain, and responses to the conflict from Britain. Little research exists on the legacies and memories of the Irish Troubles in Britain, and initiatives here towards post-conflict remembering, critical and empathic understanding, and peace-building have been piecemeal. This is in sharp contrast to the situation in Northern Ireland, where since the peace process began in 1993-94, the academy, civil society organisations, community groups and other stakeholders have been engaged in wide-ranging debates about the social, cultural and psychological legacies of violence; the importance of memory, storytelling and commemoration in acknowledging, understanding and transforming these legacies in the context of peace-building; societal responsibilities and strategies for 'dealing with the past'; and profound questions of representation, truth-recovery, justice, healing, and reconciliation.

This conference aims to examine the impact of the Troubles since 1968 upon individual lives, social relationships, communities and culture in Britain; to investigate the history of responses to, engagements with, and memories of the Irish conflict in Britain; to explore absences and weaknesses in peace-building and conflict transformation related to the Troubles in Britain; and to contribute to wider academic and public debate about Britain as a post-conflict culture and what can be learned from the Northern Irish experience about peace-building and 'dealing with the past'. The organisers welcome proposals for papers on topics that might include, but are not limited to:

· The effect of the Troubles on British politics and state policy (eg counter-terrorism, policing)

· The impact of conflict on particular social groups (eg people in Britain bereaved and injured as a result of the Troubles, military veterans, the Irish in Britain, NI Protestants in Britain, NI exiles)

· British cultural engagement with the conflict in the arts, literature, media, popular culture

· Silence, amnesia and denial: refusing to engage with the NI conflict

· GB public opinion and the Troubles

· Solidarity movements, support networks, political links between organisations in Britain and NI

· Memory, commemoration, memorials

· Oral histories, life histories, memoirs and testimonies

· Peace-building and conflict transformation: local and national initiatives in Britain

· The impact of the IRA's campaign on places and communities in Britain

· Post-conflict demobilisation

· Justice, miscarriages of justice, prisons and prisoners

· State discourse, ideology, representation, censorship, the contesting of dominant meanings

· National and international comparative dimensions (current/past conflicts, Britain's colonial wars)

· Inter-generational legacies of the Troubles (including family memories, Irish/British identities)

· Re-membering the Irish conflict in the 'war on terror'

· The impact of the Irish peace process in Britain

The organisers encourage papers by both established and early career researchers that consider theoretical perspectives and historical, contemporary and comparative case studies from the full range of humanities and social science disciplines and interdisciplinarities, as well as practitioner approaches, and personal experiences of those directly affected. Please ensure that you emphasise your papers link with the context in Britain. Proposals, including contact details, affiliation and 100-word biography, a title, and 500-word abstract, should be sent by email to the conference administrator, Dr Sam Carroll, at [log in to unmask] by 20th April 2012. Please send as Word documents or in Rich Text Format with unformatted text (no alignment or underlining etc.) The organisers intend to publish a selection of conference papers in an edited volume. Please visit the Conference website for further information: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/mnh/ireland

Organisers: Centre for Research in Memory, Narrative & Histories, University of Brighton http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/mnh; Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester http://www.le.ac.uk/po/; The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace http://www.foundation4peace.org/