Living with the Aftermath of Conflict: How Young Protestants Construct Personal Identity and Critique Concepts of Group Identity amidst Trauma, Political Crises, and Divisive Discourse in Northern Ireland

While April 2018 marked the twentieth anniversary of the end of Northern Ireland’s violent conflict known as the Troubles, the British territory still struggles with reconciliation. The two biggest ethnoreligious groups, Irish Catholics and British Protestants, remain heavily divided: physically by segregation and ideologically by dichotomous constructions of belonging. Political rhetoric and narratives of collective memory often reify these divisions, as evidenced by the talking points of the most popular political parties since the power-sharing government collapsed in January 2017. Rising welfare costs and youth unemployment, as well as Brexit negotiations over the border with the Republic of Ireland, further complicate peacework. This manuscript highlights the everyday lives of young Protestants amidst the trauma, political crises, and divisive discourse involved in the process of peacemaking in Northern Ireland through ethnographic research conducted in Armagh and Belfast from 2011 to 2015. I argue that young Protestants (ages 18 to 35) draw on their personal experiences with cross-community sociality as adults to remake local constructions of belonging, emphasizing shared commonalities and critiquing autochthonous constructions of group identity that divide their home into British or Irish. I further argue that the Orange Order commemorates a collective memory of historical trauma, shaping the symbols and discourse that are used by members of the Protestant community to justify political maneuvering, protests around heritage and civil rights, and at times, violence. By examining how young Protestants are impacted by these narratives of collective trauma and how they use personal experiences to critique and transform such narratives, I demonstrate young adults’ potential to transform divisive group identities and conclude that they should be a key component of long-term reconciliation and peacemaking.

Grantor dc:publisher

State University of New York at Buffalo

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Brady, Laura

Contributors dc:contributor

• Neofotistos, Vasiliki
• Anthropology

• cultural anthropology
• peace studies
• European studies

Statement dc:rights

• Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.
• Copyright retained by author.

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10477/77947

OAI record oai:identifier

https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=qdc&identifier=oai%3Aubir.buffalo.edu%3A10477%2F77947