'Unity through Diversity': Non-Sectarian Social Movements and the Politics of Community in Belfast

“通过多样性实现团结”：贝尔法斯特的非宗派社会运动和社区政治

• 批准号: AH/J012289/1
• 负责人: John Nagle
• 金额: $ 2.43万
• 依托单位: University of East London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FJ012289%2F1
• 关键词: Unity; through; Diversity; Non; Sectarian

Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, is historically known as a violently divided city because it hosts a deep conflict conducted between UK unionists and Irish nationalists over the legitimacy of the wider state. The divided city is most clearly seen in the deeply embedded strength of residential segregation and separate schooling that represents separate and competing concepts of communal affiliation. Institutional structures designed to deal with violent conflict between nationalists and unionists have increasingly been based on recognising and accommodating the distinct national and cultural identities and needs of the two 'communities'. Yet, while it is easy to assume that political mobilisation coheres with ethnic community in the divided city, Belfast has a long and rich history of non-sectarian groups mobilising to advance alternative politics and contrasting visions of communal belonging which embrace diverse identities and political goals. Examples of these non-sectarian movements include Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender groupings, punks, feminists, socialists, environmentalists, anti-nuclear groups and anti-global capitalist movements. This project seeks to bring to wide attention the history and narratives of these non-sectarian movements by examining the extent these groups forge plural communities that purposely supersede ethnic identity. By illuminating the contingent and multiple ways in which the political community is imagined, challenged and constituted, the project aims to address a crucial gap in research on community in divided societies. In particular, the project looks at how non-sectarian movements have potentially fostered community identity through ritualistic performance, especially street protests, theatre and art, and the carnivalesque. Alongside this, the project examines how groups which do not historically belong to specific residential spaces, or are effectively excluded from key symbolic public spaces, creatively utilise space to create communal belonging and identity. Furthermore, the project will aim to bring new depth to our understanding of why individuals choose to opt out of traditional ethnic communities by joining non-sectarian movements in the divided city. It will also explore how diverse non-sectarian movements have created networks and strong relationships of support between each other.It is expected that this project will have a high academic and public policy impact. It will appeal to academics who wish to examine the complex character of communal mobilisation in divided cities, and it is hoped that it will initiate similar research on alternative modes of community in similar violently divided cities as well as comparative work. The research will also be of great benefit to public policy makers, especially in Belfast and across Northern Ireland, which are responsible for institutionally supporting and funding community development as part of peacebuilding strategies. The project will not only bring together non-sectarian social movement representatives and public policy makers to debate the meaning and salience of community in the context of a divided city; it will further contribute to an important deliberation over how community should be defined for the purposes of institutional classification and support and which communities should merit such support.

贝尔法斯特是北方爱尔兰的首都，历史上被称为一个暴力分裂的城市，因为它主办了英国统一主义者和爱尔兰民族主义者之间就更广泛国家的合法性进行的深刻冲突。这座分裂的城市最明显的体现在根深蒂固的居住隔离和单独的学校教育，这代表了社区归属的分离和竞争概念。旨在处理民族主义者和联合主义者之间暴力冲突的体制结构越来越多地建立在承认和适应两个“社区”不同的民族和文化特征和需求的基础上。然而，虽然很容易假设政治动员与分裂城市的种族社区相一致，但贝尔法斯特有着悠久而丰富的非宗派团体动员推进替代政治和对比社区归属的历史，其中包括不同的身份和政治目标。这些非宗派运动的例子包括女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋和变性人团体、朋克、女权主义者、社会主义者、环保主义者、反核团体和反全球资本主义运动。该项目旨在通过研究这些群体在多大程度上形成了有意取代族裔身份的多元社区，使人们广泛关注这些非宗派运动的历史和叙述。通过阐明政治共同体被想象、挑战和构成的偶然性和多种方式，该项目旨在解决分裂社会中社区研究的一个关键空白。特别是，该项目着眼于非宗派运动如何通过仪式表演，特别是街头抗议，戏剧和艺术以及狂欢节来促进社区认同。除此之外，该项目还研究了历史上不属于特定住宅空间的群体，或者被有效地排除在关键的象征性公共空间之外的群体，如何创造性地利用空间来创造社区归属感和身份。此外，该项目旨在使我们更深入地理解为什么个人选择退出传统的民族社区，加入分裂城市的非宗派运动。它还将探讨不同的非宗派运动如何建立网络和相互支持的牢固关系，预计该项目将产生很高的学术和公共政策影响。它将吸引那些希望研究分裂城市中社区动员的复杂性的学者，并希望它将启动类似的研究，在类似的暴力分裂城市中的社区替代模式以及比较工作。这项研究还将对公共决策者大有助益，特别是在贝尔法斯特和整个北方爱尔兰，他们负责从体制上支持和资助社区发展，作为建设和平战略的一部分。该项目不仅将使非宗派社会运动代表和公共决策者聚集一堂，讨论社区在一个分裂的城市中的意义和重要性;它还将进一步促进一次重要的审议，即为了机构分类和支助的目的，应如何界定社区，以及哪些社区应得到这种支助。