Centre For The Study Of Ethnic Conflict

Description

The Centre for the Study of Ethnic Conflict brings together staff of the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics with research expertise on, and interest in, this practical puzzle: how do contemporary states and international organisations negotiate and communicate with residents of ethnically different origin, elaborate and implement policies of minority protection, maintain and improve relations between group who perceive of themselves as having different, and at times conflicting, perennial identities? The focus of Centre's work is on the social and political origins of ethnic conflict, policy instruments of conflict prevention, post conflict reconciliation and peace building, and on comparative analyses of intergroup conflicts across the globe.

In recent decades, societies the world over have experienced accelerated processes of social and political change, bringing individuals to the centre of political attention, with parties and elites no longer representing the homogenous interest of groups as they once did. Societies integrated through hierarchical organisational structures, core ideologies, and related belief systems were all decried to be the fact of the past. Yet, in Europe and elsewhere, people witness the growing importance cultural identities of core ethnic group are assuming in nation-state politics. Increasingly, political parties, civil society groups and social movements mobilise resident publics around what is often perceived as the interests of domestic majority publics. On the other hand, more and more states choose to provide compactly settled minority groups special opportunities to pursue their group-specific interests, whether in language training, culture-sensitive education, history of their community, and religious practices.

The Centre has three priority development areas:

• Provide research and teaching on ethnic conflict and divided societies from a Comparative Politics perspective within the School of Politics and International Studies;
• Cooperate with research institutions in Ireland, UK, and wider Europe engaged in comparative political research of ethnic conflict and divided societies, allowing for exchange of expertise, research visits and student exchange;
• Foster exchanges with other research institutions and policymaking bodies across ethnically diverse, deeply divided and post conflict societies that are engaged in comparative politics research of ethnic conflict.

Staff at the Centre has a wide–range of expertise and dynamic research agendas. These all find their place in subject specific modules offered at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with particular attention being paid to issues of peace building, democratic transition, and post conflict reconciliation, including:

• securing, and maintaining cease-fires by armed groups;
• confidence-building measures and problems of public order;
• obstacles (or perceived obstacles) to political settlement;
• factors helping (or assumed to help) to promote the environment for political settlements;
• human and minority rights, rights of migrants, and responsibilities of the state; normative models for political settlements;
• long-term influences on community relations and intergroup conflict;
• influence of external factors on peace and stability, especially international organisations.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Contact details

On the map

Go to larger version of this map

Categorisation

Type

Project Tags

University affiliation(s)

Queen's University Belfast
University Rd
Belfast
BT7 1NN