Creating Harmony Through Everyday Peace: Conflict, Economic Aid, Peacebuilding, and The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Northern Ireland
Institutional Affiliation
University of Manitoba & Kansas State University
Start Date
17-1-2025 2:30 PM
End Date
17-1-2025 4:00 PM
Proposal Type
Presentation
Proposal Format
Virtual
Proposal Description
Everyday intergroup contact is common in divided societies despite challenges such as Northern Ireland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina among many others. The concept of everyday peace consists of various practices community members use in deeply divided societies (Mac Ginty, 2014). Individuals relearn how to coexist or fail to reconcile due to multiple factors that prevent them from living together. In other words, everyday peace encompasses the critical conditions that encourage fostering mutual respect, and cooperation among community members (Mac Ginty, 2021). Everyday peace practices also “involve coping mechanisms such as the avoidance of contentious subjects in religiously or ethnically mixed company, or a constructive ambiguity whereby people conceal their identity or opinion lest they draw attention to themselves” (Mac Ginty, 2014, p.549).
While everyday peace focuses on how ordinary people disrupt conflict, this article demonstrates the critical role of CSOs in building peace in post-peace Northern Ireland. The article further brings the voices of CSOs and offers what a shared future for Northern Ireland looks like in the eyes of CSO workers.
Creating Harmony Through Everyday Peace: Conflict, Economic Aid, Peacebuilding, and The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Northern Ireland
Everyday intergroup contact is common in divided societies despite challenges such as Northern Ireland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina among many others. The concept of everyday peace consists of various practices community members use in deeply divided societies (Mac Ginty, 2014). Individuals relearn how to coexist or fail to reconcile due to multiple factors that prevent them from living together. In other words, everyday peace encompasses the critical conditions that encourage fostering mutual respect, and cooperation among community members (Mac Ginty, 2021). Everyday peace practices also “involve coping mechanisms such as the avoidance of contentious subjects in religiously or ethnically mixed company, or a constructive ambiguity whereby people conceal their identity or opinion lest they draw attention to themselves” (Mac Ginty, 2014, p.549).
While everyday peace focuses on how ordinary people disrupt conflict, this article demonstrates the critical role of CSOs in building peace in post-peace Northern Ireland. The article further brings the voices of CSOs and offers what a shared future for Northern Ireland looks like in the eyes of CSO workers.