Caught in the conundrum: neoliberalism and education in post-conflict Northern Ireland: Exploring Shared Education

Northern Ireland (NI) is emerging from a violent period in its troubled history and remains a<br/>society characterized by segregation between its two main communities. Nowhere is this more<br/>apparent than in education, where for the most part Catholic and Protestant pupils are<br/>educated separately. During the last 30 years there has been a twofold pressure placed on the<br/>education system in NI - at one level to respond to intergroup tensions by promoting<br/>reconciliation, and at another, to deal with national policy demands derived from a global neoliberalist<br/>economic agenda. With reference to current efforts to promote shared education<br/>between separate schools, we explore the uneasy dynamic between a school-based<br/>reconciliation programme in a transitioning society and system-wide values that are driven by<br/>neo-liberalism and its organizational manifestation - new managerialism. We argue that whilst<br/>the former seeks to promote social democratic ideals in education that can have a potentially<br/>transformative effect at societal level, neoliberal priorities have the potential to both subvert<br/>shared education and also to embed it.

Women Lawyers and the Struggle for Change in Conflict and Transition

This article examines the particular experiences of female ���cause lawyers��� in conflicted and transitional societies. Drawn from an ongoing comparative project which involved fieldwork in Cambodia, Chile, Israel, Palestine, Tunisia and South Africa, the paper looks at opportunities, obstacles and the obduracy required from such lawyers to ���make a difference��� in these challenging contexts. Drawing upon the theoretical literature on the sociology of the legal profession, cause-lawyers, gender and transitional justice, and the structure/agency nexus, the article considers in turn the conflict\cause-lawyering intersection and the work of cause-lawyers in transitional contexts. It concludes by arguing that the case-study of cause-lawyers offers a rebuttal to the charge that transitional justice is just like ���ordinary justice���. It also contends that, notwithstanding the durability of patriarchal power in transitional contexts, law remains a site of struggle, not acquiescence, and many of these cause-lawyers have and continue to exercise both agency and responsibility in ���taking on��� that power.

Dealing with the Legacy of Ethnic Conflict: Confronting ���Othering��� through Transformative Adult Education���A Northern Ireland Case Study

Despite its peace process, Northern Ireland remains a deeply divided society. The legacy of a 30-year conflict has ensured that the state continues to be prone to outbreaks of violence over contentious issues such as Orange Order parading and the flying of national flags. This paper argues that in order to address this legacy, there is a need to confront the Othering processes that have helped to generate and sustain division. It will argue that programmes of adult education can play an important role in helping the conflicting groups to reimagine their ���exclusive��� notions of the nation to one capable of incorporating the Other.

Small Steps or Giant Leaps? Defining Reconciliation in the Transition from Conflict in Northern Ireland

The context of Northern Ireland in the transition of conflict has produced a range of efforts to bring about reconciliation. However, definitions and understandings of the nature of reconciliation differ. This paper draws together how reconciliation has been defined in theory in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, examines some models of practice in the light of that theory and illustrates the process of reconciliation through general initiatives in Northern Ireland and specific projects seeking to reconcile at community level. It is concluded that, while political and public processes can set a context and space for engagement to take place, reconciliation is fundamentally about personal encounter and relationship, which have to take place in a range of settings and at all levels of a society that has experienced conflict.

Psychosocial interventions for reducing the harmful effects of war and conflict-related violence on young children aged 0-11 years (Protocol)

Children living in a conflict-affected society can be exposed to daily violence in their communities and, as such, may be at risk of a range of harmful effects. Psychosocial interventions in conflict-affected areas aim to improve outcomes for children and can be treatment or prevention focused. The literature mainly focuses on psychological effects e.g. PTSD or anxiety disorders. Until recently, rather less attention was paid to the influence of mediating variables (cultural context or personal capacity) and their importance in reducing harmful effects. <br/><br/>This systematic review will assess the effectiveness of interventions in reducing the harmful effects of war and conflict-related violence on young children. It will also determine whether the interventions have differential effects depending on age and gender.<br/><br/>Children living in conflict-affected societies have unique needs for support and services. As such, any intervention delivered should be designed and implemented using the best available evidence. Professionals, policy makers and service provider will benefit from this review as to ���what works��� for this vulnerable population and further exploration (via a Ph.D.) is planned to further extend the impact of this review. <br/>

���Who controls the past? An investigation into the role of heritage interventions in post-conflict nation narration���

Poster presentation

���Who controls the past? An investigation into the role of heritage interventions in post-conflict nation narration in the former Yugoslavia���

Urban Conflicts: Ethno-national divisions, States and Cities conference

Archives of Working-Class Life: The Labour Movement, Working-Class Cultures and Conflict in Northern Ireland since 1945'

With Dr Se��n Byers (83-page report funded by Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with Trademark Belfast, published online on 30 September 2016).

Complexity of risk: Mixed methods approach to understanding youth risk and insecurity in post-conflict settings

In settings of intergroup conflict, identifying contextually-relevant risk factors for youth development in an important task. In Vukovar, Croatia, a city devastated during the war in former Yugoslavia, ethno-political tensions remain. The current study utilized a mixed method approach to identify two salient community-level risk factors (ethnic tension and general antisocial behavior) and related emotional insecurity responses (ethnic and non-ethnic insecurity) among youth in Vukovar. In Study 1, focus group discussions (N=66) with mother, fathers, and adolescents 11 to 15-years-old were analyzed using the Constant Comparative Method, revealing two types of risk and insecurity responses. In Study 2, youth (N=227, 58% male, M=15.88 SD=1.12 years old) responded to quantitative scales developed from the focus groups; discriminate validity was demonstrated and path analyses established predictive validity between each type of risk and insecurity. First, community ethnic tension (i.e., threats related to war/ethnic identity) significantly predicted ethnic insecurity for all youth (��=.41, p&lt;.001). Second, experience with community antisocial behavior (i.e., general crime found in any context) predicted non-ethnic community insecurity for girls (��=.32, p&lt;.05), but not for boys. These findings are the first to show multiple forms of emotional insecurity at the community level; implications for future research are discussed.

The management of workplace conflict: Contrasting pathways in the HRM literature.

This paper reviews the human resource management literature on the management of workplace conflict. It suggests that workplace conflict is commonly viewed in the literature as a symptom of management failure: the notion that conflict may be intrinsic to the nature of work because employees and managers have hard-to-reconcile competing interests is given short-shrift. At the same time, the paper identifies important differences in the literature, which the authors call ���pathways���, about the best methods to manage problems at the workplace. It is argued that four contrasting pathways can be detected in the literature with regard to how organizations approach workplace conflict management practices. Each pathway is examined fully and their respective strengths and weaknesses are assessed.<br/><br/>

Addressing conflict and tolerance through the curriculum

Political, religious and national divisions in Northern Ireland go back many hundreds of years so it is not surprising that the lack of a common national narrative has made the teaching of history in schools difficult. The fact that schools have largely been organized on a denominational basis has added to the challenge. When political violence broke out in the late 1960s many looked to schools to contribute to the promotion of reconciliation and the way history had been taught received significant critical attention. This chapter will outline the evolving nature of the history curriculum and review evidence on the impact of this curriculum on the historical understanding of students and young people. In addition, the chapter will briefly consider other ways in which students engage with historical issues through the teaching of citizenship, and wider family and community influences. Whereas the teaching of history in the past either was largely absent or often took on a partisan character, the development of a statutory curriculum in the 1990s helped promote a more dispassionate, skills-based approach which emphasized critical engagement with evidence and a multiperspectivity. While this represented a significant improvement on what had gone before, evaluation of the impact of this approach has highlighted the need for a consideration of the emotional impact of historical understanding and the need better to connect the lessons of history to contemporary society.