In marked contrast to literary, historical and cultural studies, there has been a limited engagement with the concepts and politics of trauma by political science and peacebuilding research.

This book explores the debate on trauma and peacebuilding and presents the challenges for democratization that the politics of trauma present in transitional periods. It demonstrates how ideas about reconciliation are filtered through ideological lenses and become new ways of articulating communal and ethno-nationalist sentiments. Drawing on the work of Jacques Ranciere and Iris Marion Young...

The 'Sunningdale experiment' of 1973-4 witnessed the first attempt to establish peace in Northern Ireland through power-sharing. However, its provisions, particularly the cross-border 'Council of Ireland', proved to be a step too far. The experiment floundered amid paramilitary-led violence, finally collapsing in May 1974 as a result of the Ulster Workers' Council strike. Yet many of the ideas first articulated in this period would resonate in later attempts to cultivate peace and foster a democratic order. This collection asks what became of those ideas and what lessons we can...