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The essay book, page 11, shows hope with the key symbol and introduces the Belfast Peace Wall. What’s additionally special is that there is more than one Peace Wall.
Essay book:

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Urban Allusions in Contested Cities - Britt Baillie

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Graffiti, murals, museum panels, and restaurant names in cities in conflict often allude to other divided cities or ethno-national conflicts. Here, allusions function as a form of political commentary and a means of socio-political expression. Allusions are economical devices which draw upon the viewer-reader's ideas, cultural memes, or emotions already associated with the topic-in this case contested cities.

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These are classical examples of how Switzerland reinforces its national identity. But we are anyway such a tiny piece of a puzzle !

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These are classical examples of how Switzerland reinforces its national identity. But we are anyway such a tiny piece of a puzzle !

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or a very controversial poster comparing for 'security' stigmatizing criminal immigrants as black sheeps...

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(Ex-press)

Switzerland's biggest political party, the rightwing Swiss People's Party, has come under renewed fire for its hard-hitting election campaign attacking foreigners.

On Wednesday Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey denounced posters depicting three white sheep booting a black sheep out of the country as "irresponsible" and liable to incite racial hatred.

"I think it is important that there are people in this country who have the courage to stand up and denounce this type of campaign, which to be quite frank disgusts me. It disgusts me because it stirs up hatred. They are racist campaigns," Calmy-Rey, a member of the centre-left Social Democrats, told Swiss-French radio.

The "black sheep" posters underpin a People's Party initiative to expel foreign criminals, which was launched on August 1 - Swiss National Day - three months ahead of October's parliamentary elections.

The People's Party secured 26.2 per cent of the vote four years ago on the back of equally provocative campaigning, and latest polls show a similar level of support for the party this time around.

The posters, which have been plastered across the country and the Swiss press, have attracted the ire of the Federal Commission against Racism, the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities and even the United Nations.

UN intervention

On Thursday Swiss Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin revealed that the UN special rapporteur on racism, Doudou Diène, had contacted the Swiss government seeking an explanation. Couchepin added that the government was preparing its response.

The letter, which was sent three weeks ago, was co-signed by the UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Jorge Bustamante. Earlier this year Diène published a report, castigating Switzerland for its "political climate influenced by xenophobic tendencies".

Roman Jäggi, spokesman for the Swiss People's Party, hit back at the latest criticism, describing the poster campaign as "completely fair".

"It is not racist," he said. "We have a big problem with violence and in particular youth violence, and foreign criminals are a big factor," he told swissinfo.

Jäggi said it was reprehensible that the Swiss president had attacked a poster campaign by another party, adding that Calmy-Rey was clearly electioneering on behalf of the Social Democrats.

The People's Party dismissed Diène's intervention as "worthless", describing the UN special rapporteur on racism as a troublemaker who never had a good word to say about Switzerland.

Tough line

According to Pascal Sciarini, professor of political science at Geneva University, the People's Party's recent electoral success is down to its tough line on foreigners, the European Union and the UN, and it is now a prisoner of this strategy.

"They have to keep the fires burning, and that means they have to come up with new ideas and at the same time harden their stance," he said.

Sciarini cited the initiatives against minarets and foreign criminals as evidence of the People's Party's desire to push an ever-harder line and to keep control of the immigration debate.

"They are getting more intelligent and more subtle, and are the best when it comes to marketing their policies and attracting the media's attention," he said. "They are polarising people more and more: you are either for them or very much against."

Calmy-Rey's comments came on the same day that the People's Party was ordered by a judge to remove a campaign video from its website.

Footage showed staged scenes of youth violence and pictures of foreigners juxtaposed with picture-postcard scenes of Switzerland, along with the message: "Heaven and Hell".

The ruling came after seven of the youths featured complained they had been duped into taking part.

swissinfo, Adam Beaumont

Key facts

14,106 youths (11,189 boys and 2,917 girls) were convicted of crimes in 2005, according to the Federal Statistics Office.
The figure was up about 2,000 on 1999.
62.7% of the convicted youths were Swiss.

end of infobox

UN and the Swiss People's Party

In November 2002 the then UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, condemned a proposal by the rightwing party to clamp down on asylum seekers.

In October the following year the Geneva-based UN refugee agency accused the People's Party of stoking up prejudice against foreigners ahead of the 2003 parliamentary elections. It said some of the party's campaign material was the worst it had seen in Europe.

end of infobox

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People's Party accused of "racist" campaign

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Switzerland's biggest political party, the rightwing Swiss People's Party, has come under renewed fire for its hard-hitting election campaign attacking foreigners. On Wednesday Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey denounced posters depicting three white sheep booting a black sheep out of the country as "irresponsible" and liable to incite racial hatred.

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These are classical examples of how Switzerland reinforces its national identity. But we are anyway such a tiny piece of a puzzle !

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These are classical examples of how Switzerland reinforces its national identity. But we are anyway such a tiny piece of a puzzle !

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Once again some details about Switzerland, yes, our political system is an example for many but we also face a lot of xenophobia and anti-immigration movements. In the public space (I can now remember this thanks to Futurelearn...!) we have many well-known and controversial example as the popular vote on banning the construction of minarets

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Swiss minaret referendum, 2009 - Wikipedia

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The federal popular initiative "against the construction of minarets" was a successful federal popular initiative in Switzerland to prevent the construction of Mosque minarets. In a November 2009 referendum, a constitutional amendment banning the construction of new minarets was approved by 57.5% of the participating voters.

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I'm a Swiss citizen and I'm sometimes so ashamed, but every citizen of the 'developped' countries might be sometimes ashamed of what is happening...
In my former art faculty in France, I've been by a professor who said I was a 'marxist' because I simply said, as we read his texts, that I wasn't always as optimistic as the writer Edouard Glissant, http://www.france24.com/en/20100417-globalisation-glissant-edouard-poetry-obama-usa/ who is a poet. I had been the all day in Marseille, which is an important French harbour, seing beggers from all over the world sitting with kids in the middle of rubbish, etc. I know it also sometimes a representation, but...

In my view, many Swiss politicians, nowadays, underestimate what is happeing in my country in matter of violence and discrimination. When I come back from Italy or South of France, my former friends don't want to speak with me, or only about beaches, touristic landscapes, hollydays, olive oil, pines, sun, Pompei... and no word about immigrants, the crisis, etc. They don't care anymore, and sometimes they are left-wing politicians as my father - now dead - had a anti-colonialist bookshop... But all seem me so gentrified.

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THE INTERVIEW : In this interview, our guest is poet Edouard Glissant. He speaks up against globalisation and talks about creolisation.

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I was just reading an article yesterday that spoke about how the Swiss government is looking to lower or restrict immigration due to increase crime etc... I guess it wasn't dealing with "temporary" immigrants

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Business insists that Switzerland needs them to keep the economy going, but voters are starting to think differently: campaigners easily gathered enough signatures to hold a referendum next year which could reverse the 2007 decision to join the Schengen Treaty, which opened the borders to EU citizens.

"We're a small country, there just isn't room for everybody," said Lisa Muller, 33, a secretary from Geneva. "I'll vote to stop immigration because I like Switzerland the way it is and I don't want it to be congested and polluted."

Public anxiety about immigration is nothing new in Switzerland. The right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) has long campaigned against it, in particular raising fears about Muslims.

But the backers of next year's referendum are very different: environmentalists from a group called Ecopop who argue that their pristine environment - and indeed the Earth - is in danger from overpopulation, even if the new arrivals are from elsewhere in Europe rather than further afield. Immigrants make up around 1.8 million of the population of 8 million, most of them EU citizens. Ecopop want to restrict immigration to no more than 0.2 per cent of the population annually.

Opinion polls have shown they have support, with one poll for a Swiss newspaper suggesting 75 per cent in favour, with 20 per cent opposed and five per cent undecided.

EconomieSuisse, the Swiss Business Federation, is strongly in favour of keeping Switzerland open to EU workers. Jan Atteslander, the head of International Affairs, said: "The prosperity of Switzerland depends to some degree on this, ensuring that we get properly trained and qualified people."

But even business is starting to second thoughts. Rolf Dorig, a member of the executive board of EconomieSuisse said last month that quotas should be reintroduced, in part to head off a popular rejection of open borders. "If we do not succeed in becoming more restrictive on immigration, citizens will sooner or later massively limit Switzerland's openness to the rest of the world (in a referendum)," he said.

The SVP also plans to bring a referendum on immigration, probably in 2014. Unlike Ecopop's, which would limit immigration to a set annual number, it would allow the Swiss government to set quotas and scrap the open border for EU citizens.

"We want to control who comes into Switzerland and how many," said Silvia Bar, the party's Vice General-Secretary. "We want to go back to our old system of quotas - so if the economy needs 80,000 immigrants, we can let them in. But there will be control over the process."

It's not that the

Swiss object to all foreigners. Geneva is a base for international banking as well as the Red Cross and the United Nations. When President Francois Hollande put up their taxes at the end of last year an influx of wealthy French citizens arrived, joining the film stars, hedge fund managers and oligarchs whose luxurious homes around Lake Geneva enjoy spectacular views of the Alps.

But most of the new arrivals are less well-heeled. The appeal for southern Europe's armies of jobless is an economy with an unemployment rate of only 3.1 per cent, compared to 11.7 per cent in the eurozone and around 50 per cent for under 25-year-olds in Spain. For those who want to work, there are still jobs to be had in Geneva in construction, public services, and hotels like the Edelweiss.

The downside to the influx is pressure on Switzerland's enviable standard of living. Flats are now almost impossible to find at any price, traffic jams and crowded trains are blamed on overpopulation, and crime is now a fear in what used to be one of the safest nations in the world. Geneva, the once-staid city of John Calvin, now has sleazy neighbourhoods, where The Sunday Telegraph was offered drugs by a dealer and then a prostitute by a pimp at 7.30 am on a Friday morning, on the way to an appointment at the Hotel Edelweiss.

Even some of the recently arrived immigrants support immigration quotas to protect the lifestyle they have come in search of.

Aliona Serban, 33, arrived a year ago from Portugal with her engineer husband and two children, aged ten and four. A lawyer by training who speaks six languages, her husband's career had thrived in Portugal until the property boom crashed.

So far in Geneva she has only managed to find jobs baby sitting and cleaning, while her husband works as a labourer.

"We are immigrants and we must start at the bottom and work our way up," she said. "We are determined to make a success of our lives here. Switzerland offers so much, it is safe, clean, with excellent education for my children, but it is a little country and there must be better control of immigration."

Not all the immigrants are young, and not all are so enthusiastic. "I would love to go home," said Maria Novor, 54, a barmaid in a Spanish café who arrived six years ago.

"In Galicia there is sunshine, good food, all my family, and a good life - but also unemployment, high costs and no hope. There are simply no jobs in Spain, so I must stay here."

The first stop for many jobseekers in Geneva is Le Portugais, a fish restaurant run by Fernando Martins, 45. "They drop in asking about work, or send email messages - three or four daily. I give them addresses of places they can try for rooms, or I try to put them in touch with entrepreneurs," he said. "My restaurant is like the Portuguese consulate!"

He showed some of the emails - a depressing succession of well-qualified young men and women who offered to wash dishes, sweep floors, dig ditches or do anything to get a start in working life.

"It's not only young people, there are also sometimes people in their fifties and sixties who had retired to Portugal after working in Switzerland, but who have lost everything and come back," he said. "The last you heard from them they had opened a beachfront restaurant years ago.

"Then they turn up in Geneva asking around for work. I know one who came back and now he is a postman."

It doesn't look as if there will be an end soon to the flow of jobseekers escaping the eurozone soon - at least not while there is work for them to do.

David Pita, 30, whose Spanish father arrived looking for work in the 1970s, said: "Sure we are a small country and crowded but Switzerland needs immigrants. The population is getting old. If there are no foreigners then the system cannot work."

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Swiss move towards barring Eurozone refugees

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Business insists that Switzerland needs them to keep the economy going, but voters are starting to think differently: campaigners easily gathered enough signatures to hold a referendum next year which could reverse the 2007 decision to join the Schengen Treaty, which opened the borders to EU citizens.

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Switzerland is interesting as 25% of the workforce is from outside the country
http://www.swissworld.org/en/economy/workers_and_jobs/foreign_workers/
Thus while there is a inherent language divide within the native population, this population tends to be united by greater affluence and opportunity, with traditionally more poorly paid jobs being performed by foreign guest workers. So long as they are temporary immigrants they are less likely to engage in protest… let alone violence ..against the system.

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Discover Switzerland: Official web portal of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs - a short guide to Swiss society, politics, history, culture and economic affairs.

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I have found this really interesting video on YouTube on the the division in Belfast and I recommend watching this BBC documentary from the 12th July in Ardoyne - it will explain a lot to anyone who doesn't know about the Marching Season and the flute bands.

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Twelfth in Northern Ireland 2013 (BBC Documentary)

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Documentary about Loyalists celebrating their culture on their yearly Orange festival. Contains violence and riotous behavior.

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These clips show how protesters are treated in Turkey at the moment.

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Discover Turkey - A fusion of colour and culture‎ Adwww.emirates-holidays.in/Turkey‎ Book now with Emirates Holidays Special OffersBe InspiredHoliday TypesDestinations Search Results News for Protesters hit in Turkey PM mine visit Protesters hit in Turkey PM mine visit BBC News ‎- 7 hours ago Video footage and a photos have emerged of two protesters being assaulted during the Turkish Prime Minister's visit to the town of Soma.

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These clips show how protesters are treated in Turkey at the moment.

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Angry protests in Turkey over poor mine safety - BBC News

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Subscribe to BBC News www.youtube.com/bbcnews Police in the Turkish cities of Ankara and Istanbul have fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of demonstrators demanding the government resign over the country's deadliest mining disaster. Subscribe http://www.youtube.com/bbcnews Check out our website: http://www.bbc.com/news Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bbcworldnews Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bbcworld Instagram: http://instagram.com/bbcnews

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example of republic of cyprus flag used in the north within the turkish republic of northern cyprus boundaries and how this has threatened the state in the north:

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I am a Cypriot not a martyr

Kibrisliyim Sehit değilim

Είμαι ένας Κύπριος δεν είμαι μάρτυρας

THE TRIAL of a Turkish Cypriot couple, charged for hanging the Cyprus Republic's flag outside their home and shop in June last year in Famagusta has been postponed until June 11th 2014. Koray Basdogrultmaci and Cinel Senem Husseyin were charged with offences against public order.

The couple were arrested and jailed on June 21st 2013, even though they had tried to explain to the Turkish Cypriot police that Basdogrultmaci, who was arrested four years ago for the same reason, had been acquitted in court.

The couple said hanging the flag was their way of protesting the Turkish Prime Minister's hypocrisy. Tayyip Erdogan had, the previous day attended the opening ceremony of the Mediterranean Games in Mersin, in Turkey where the Cypriot flag had flown unimpeded. The Turkish Cypriot couple protested that the Cypriot flag could wave in Turkey but not in northern Cyprus.

Holding and hanging the Cyprus Republic flag is not a crime. The related trial against Koray and Cinel Basdogrultmaci is completely political and Turkish authorities are the ones who are responsible. The incident has fully exposed the policies of the breakaway regime and that policies like these were designed to force Turkish Cypriots to leave the island.

Their crime? Flying 3 Cypriot flags outside their shop in Famagusta. This was such a bad crime, to fly the flag of Cyprus, the one that they feel represents them, that they were subsequently arrested on 21st June 2013. The case has been postponed several times:

21st June 2013 Koray Basdogrultmaci and Cinel Senem Husseyin were arrested outside their shop for flying 3 Cypriot flags and were kept in jail for 6 and a half hours. As there was no law pertaining to flying the Cyprus flags, the charges were for disturbing the peace and non-recognition of the 'TRNC' ('Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus') Five mainland Turks complained to the police about the flags hence the arrests and confiscation of the flags.
21st January 2014 First court hearing, their solicitor, Eylem Şerifoğlu, asked for time to prepare their case. The case was postponed till 24th February 2014.
24th February 2014 The case was postponed till 18th March so the prosecution could study the videos of the arrests from 21st June 2013
18th March 2014 Conveniently the judge who had heard the case from the beginning went on maternity leave and another judge took over the case. As he was unfamiliar to the case he asked that it be postponed till 9th April 2014
9th April 2014 On this date the judge asked Koray and Cinel to apologise and they would be given a small fine but they refused and were told that if it went to trial again they would be facing a much heftier fine and possible imprisonment, they refused and it was referred till 6th May 2014 because of their refusal

6th May 2014 The judge wanted the police witness (Number 9) called to testify before him but as he was not in court, the case was postponed till 11th June 2014

Since the 11th June 2014 courtcase, which was predictably postponed, the couple have been coming and going to the Famagusta Court several times which again are always postponed for flimsy excuses. The last courtcase which was on 13th April 2015 the Police witness once again did not turn up and has now been set again for 13th May 2015.

Koray and Cinel call themselves CYPRIOTS. No label attached before or after, just plain simple CYPRIOTS. For their belief they are being victimized and are standing proud stating they are willing to go to jail and then a battle at the European Court of Human Rights to protect their basic human right. Their Freedom of Expression.

We are trying to gather support for Koray and Cinel outside Famagusta courts on 13th May 2015 at 8.30am but need people to sign this petition to show the ridiculous trumped up charges are a total injustice. This should never have come to court, we need these charges dismissed so that the couple can get on with their lives. Please sign the peition to show your support, not only in Cyprus but internationally, every signature helps. Thank you.

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I am a Cypriot not a martyr Kibrisliyim Sehit değilim Είμαι ένας Κύπριος δεν είμαι μάρτυρας THE TRIAL of a Turkish Cypriot couple, charged for hanging the Cyprus Republic's flag outside their home and shop in June last year in Famagusta has been postponed until June 11th 2014.

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who should care what a such retrograde and historically anachronistic organisation as the Orange Order do, in another few generations, with luck, they will have finished fading away and just be a footnote, Rangers will go bankrupt again and also vanish, ex service men will still be 'British' ex service men and can use whatever flag matches , the red duster if they are from the navy for instance but they will gradually be swamped by ex service men from the Scottish 'defence force' and the flag will eventually become that of the Scottish nation ...
... or maybe the new political leaders will be of a nervous disposition and use dictate or even law to establish that the Scottish flag whatever it is is flown alongside the Royal standard everywhere if the proposal to keep the monarchy stands .... personally I quite like the lion rampant of the ancient Scottish Royal Standard, if you want one with some history behind it

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The Royal Banner of the Royal Arms of Scotland, also known as the Royal Banner of Scotland, or more commonly the Lion Rampant of Scotland, and historically as the Royal Standard of Scotland, ( Scottish Gaelic: Bratach rìoghail na h-Alba , Scots: Ryal banner o Scotland ) or Banner of the King of Scots, is the Royal Banner of Scotland, and historically, the Royal Standard of the Kingdom of Scotland.

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In my city there are many neighbourhoods with distinct identities, and a big gap between rich and poor geographically, with people in the North of the City being significantly wealthier, and having nicer houses and streets and public services than those in the East and South of the City.

The neighbourhoods also divide by race, if you know someones ethnic background, education, accent and social economic status, it is easy to guess where in the city they grew up.

Within neighbourhoods there are also conflicting identities, for example my area is known for being multicultural and creative and also significantly deprived. However within the area there are bubbles, which have to be actively bridged. We have a large Somali population, a white working class population and an alternative/somewhat hippy group of people and then people descended from migrants mostly from Asia, Africa and new migrants, including asylum seekers, refugees and those from Eastern Europe. It is a fascinating place to live, but many places, for example cafes tend to be used by particular groups, e.g. African men or White mums.

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divisions can vary in size and form and are prevalent all over the place! be it a clique in school or other socially significant issues like race, gender or class. I'm taking an example unique to India when i bring about caste as a means of social division and the importance that's laid down behind it over here. This has lead unto monstrous proportions in terms of conflict even in modern India so far as to bring in problems like honour killings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing ) caste here becomes an integral form of division. Religion maybe the macrospectacle but caste is weighed just as much importance if not more. even so much as talking about inter-caste marriages can stir up an uproar in most families. i find it prettypeculiar. I believe that maybe conflict here arises out of emotions attached to these divisions. with associating the out-group with shame, disgust or regarding them inferior. When bound with such notions in a heavily traditional society people are moved to grow with a sense of spite for the other. Being from a Brahmin family of south india i myself see how hugely this influences the view of our community on various aspects of life.

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An honor killing or shame killing is the murder of a member of a family, due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family, or has violated the principles of a community or a religion, usually for reasons such as refusing to enter an arranged marriage, being in a relationship that is disapproved by their family, having sex outside marriage, becoming the victim of rape, dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate, engaging in non-heterosexual relations or renouncing a faith.

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In Northern Ireland politicians often use the word 'community' - whether talking about 'the two communities' or 'my community' - but should they? Are there better, more responsible ways to think about social groups? Anthropologist Dr Dominic Bryan talks through this problem with Sixth Form students.

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We can add another country to those mentioned by Sam Pherson: Romania. Fortunately there are no violent conflicts yet between the state and the Szekler community, but thing are evolving in the wrong direction, as the authorities are refusing all kind of dialogue with the szeklers.
Szeklerland is a region right in the middle of the country, part of Transylvania, which formerly was part of the Hungarian kingdom. But even in those times, Szeklerland was an autonomous region, with its own organization and way of living. The szeklers have a strong identity, and even after 95 years of romanian domination, they form more than 75% of the population of the region and claim for autonomy. More about this issue here: www.sznt.ro
In the last years this autonomous movement is becoming stronger and stronger, there we demonstration with tenth of thousands of participant, and even a great march with more than 120.000 participants. The problem is - as mentioned - that the authorities refuse the dialogue, and I am afraid, that sooner or later this will lead to violence.

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Here is the youtube link for anyone interested in watching the film.

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"Negative peace" and the "absence of violence" should give us the space to breathe and to think! Belfast is still a "City in Transition".

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The Forum for Cities in Transition is an international network of mayors, councillors, municipal officials, business people, and representatives of the voluntary and community sector.
The Forum for Cities in Transition brings together protagonists from divided societies. Its guiding principle is that one divided society is in the best position to help another.
Originating in a conference convened by South Africa President Nelson Mandela and the University of Massachusetts Boston in mid-1997, Professor O'Malley brought together Northern Ireland's most senior party negotiators with those involved from all parties that led to the historic 1994 settlement in South Africa that brought the end to apartheid.

Northern Ireland party leaders were effusive in their praise of the contributions of the South Africans, revealing that one divided society can well assist the peace-making work of another divided society.

The proposed premise is:

That people from divided societies are in the best position to help people in other divided societies. Former protagonists are best equipped to share their difficult journeys to abandon violence whether sectarian, ethnic, racial or religious as the instrument to achieve their political aims and open the gateways to recovery, reconstruction, reconciliation and rejuvenation;

That cities which are or were at the epicenter of the conflicts in their countries are in a special position to assist each other because they are often a micro-representation of their society's fault lines;

That securing the initially established peace can be fostered by citizens of divided cities working together;

That those who have real experience of doing the ordinary (refuse collection, water treatment, public transportation, social housing) in extraordinary circumstances (physical segregation, zero-sum politics, blaming the out-group for societal ills) are in the best position to learn from others' practical experiences.

A pilot conference was held in Boston in April 2009, and delegates agreed a set of basic principles, expressing its collective desire to continue and expand this work. The Forum for Cities in Transition was established; there have been four annual gatherings since, hosted by FCT member cities Mitrovica (2010), Derry-Londonderry (2011), Kirkuk (2012) and Kaduna (2013).

These annual meetings are an ongoing process, grounded in the tangible outcomes the each city delegation pledges at each event conclusion. These commitments are projects to further conflict transition and reconciliation, designed so that cities on higher rungs of conflict transformation assist those on lower rungs. This process is reciprocal, because those with particular expertise are reminded of how they attained it, while recognising there is assistance from fellow cities for their own uncompleted work.

Each city/society is in a different stage of transition to "normalcy," although it might be better to think of them as societies in "recovery," because if they do not continually address the causes of conflict, if the grievances of war remain unaddressed or inadequately addressed, if processes to nurture reconciliation are not promoted (especially at the community level), if disparities in wealth and income continue to grow among competing groups despite legislation aimed at closing such gaps, if an agreed history of the past cannot be reconciled, if the root causes of what resulted in the conflict cannot be acknowledged by all, then the residual causes of conflict and perceived grievances linger and fester, risking slow accumulation to a critical mass that sees the outbreak of conflict again. Thus, there is a need to put in place mechanisms that minimize this risk.

There are 15 member cities of the Forum for Cities in Transition.

The Forum is serviced by a Joint Secretariat: the Moakley Chair ( UMass Boston) and the Northern Ireland Foundation (Belfast).

"Forum for Cities in Transition: The Power of Place" by Ban Al-Mahfodh (UMass Boston William Joiner Center) and Ryan Bruen (Northeastern University).

The logo for the Forum for Cities in Transition was based on the semi-circular arrangement of tables for the plenary sessions at the initial conference that took place April 14-16, 2008, at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. There is further inspiration from King Arthur's famed Round Table, with no head and everyone who sits there having equal status. In this design, the circle is presently half-complete, but with leaders of each city at their place, there will be collaborative work among Forum participants to realise a full circle.

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The Forum for Cities in Transition is an international network of mayors, councillors, municipal officials, business people, and representatives of the voluntary and community sector. The Forum for Cities in Transition brings together protagonists from divided societies. Its guiding principle is that one divided society is in the best position to help another.

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My heroes are the people of East Germany who demonstrated how a revolution can be peaceful. It was a very slow, quiet revolution born out of desperation. The Monday (evening constitutionals) demonstrations centered around a church:

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Monday demonstrations in East Germany - Wikipedia

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The Monday demonstrations in East Germany in 1989 to 1991 ( German: Montagsdemonstrationen ) were a series of peaceful political protests against the government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) that took place every Monday evening. Because the church played a big role in them, the Monday demonstrations are also sometimes called the Religious Protest.

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I have actually done more work with Roma communities than Traveller communities.However, a good site to keep up with news and cases concerning Travellers is the Traveller Solidarity Network:

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呼吸法を極めて健康になる方法 | ちょっと意識して呼吸法改善すれば驚くほど健康になれるんです。まずは自然を学んで植物と波動を同調させてみませんか？

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大麻（ヘンプ）からとれる繊維は加工されて糸になり、そこからさまざまな製品が生み出されています。 例えばパンツですが、これはズボンではなく下着のパンツです。 昔はふんどしをつけていましたが、最近大麻（ヘンプ）を使った下着が人気を集めています。 それも通気性がとてもいいので、常に快適で、男性用も女性用も販売されています。 ...

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I believe that as humans we fear the unknown. If we do not understand something we tend to become apprehensive. Once educated about other religions, cultures, traditions, values, etc. we become more understanding and less fearful of "others". Once barriers have been broken and we utilize collaborative learning techniques there will be less sense of being threatened by "the other." Even people from very extremely backgrounds can begin to relate once they dedicate a little time to learning about one other. Not to mention, many governments and media outlets instal a sense of panic and fear against minorities or "the others"; i.e. the United States incarceration rates:

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Graph of racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system

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Not specific to urban areas but as it is on my mind I will post here a link to one of the most memorable documentaries i have seen. It is called 'the 5 Steps to Tyranny' and is a wake-up call as it shows how easy it is to be subconsciously part of a group, manipulated and prejudiced.

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London School of Economics and Political Science

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http://antinwo.com - LOVE, PEACE, TRUTH, FREEDOM!!!

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I am at this moment watching on BBC i-player a programme on the iconoclasm of the French Revolution and the importance of statues and other symbols in public spaces. Probably only available in UK and until 11th June at

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the french revolution: tearing up history

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The French Revolution: Tearing up History - BBC Four

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Dr Richard Clay retells the history of the French Revolution through the story of its art.

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On Mandela Day 2013, people formed a human chain along the road, showing its symbolic importance. Archbishop Thabo Makgoba attended and wrote about the experience. He said:
"In the bad old days [Klipfontein Road] was like a thread, on which sat three separate beads, of white Rondebosch, coloured Athlone, and black Gugulethu. Three different communities, each at a distinct distance from one another. On Mandela Day, Klipfontein Road became something else – an artery that connects our lives with our neighbours, as we stood together, hand in hand and arm in arm, united in our diversity."
His full article is here:

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Happy Birthday Madiba. I could almost feel the whole country breathe a collective great sigh of relief - and joy - as Nelson Mandela reached his landmark 95th birthday on Thursday.

How did you celebrate Mandela Day? What did you do for your 67 minutes?

I spent Thursday lunchtime as part of a human chain along the Klipfontein Road in Cape Town.

This runs from just under Table Mountain, eastwards across the Cape Flats.

In the bad old days it was like a thread, on which sat three separate beads, of white Rondebosch, coloured Athlone, and black Gugulethu. Three different communities, each at a distinct distance from one another.

On Mandela Day, Klipfontein Road became something else - an artery that connects our lives with our neighbours, as we stood together, hand in hand and arm in arm, united in our diversity.

Waving our South African flags and singing, despite the slight rain, we made our stand as a way of pledging to break down the old divisions and build up a new connectedness that transcends the gulfs of the past.

When the idea was first put to me, I admit that I thought twice. Was this just "gesture politics", and a soft way out of spending my 67 minutes on more tangible acts of service?

But on reflection, I came to a different conclusion.

On Mandela Day we are supposed to take some action that will help change the world, in ways that honour Nelson Mandela's own example in his life of service for the good of the nation and its people.

And what drove Madiba's servant heart was his dream of a united, democratic, non-racial, South Africa. We must never lose this vision. If we can share his perspective, his motivation, then we can each walk our own journeys, however long, towards freedom, and encourage others along the way.

If we don't pursue his dream, and uphold the values of the constitution, we risk undermining all our good deeds and acts of service.

For we need to be wary of "sticking plaster" charity that provides superficial panaceas without tackling the underlying issues on which our problems thrive.

Our greatest priority still remains overcoming divisions of economic class and race and community, and forging a greater sense of common life - even of shared vulnerability to the fate that awaits us all if we fail to create a single nation.

Standing together affirmed our belief in the tangible hope of newness of life - a hope shared by people of all faiths and of none. There truly was a sense of celebration as we held hands along Klipfontein Road.

And I was delighted that all around the country, from country towns to university campuses, others also formed human chains and committed to a common future.

We all need to keep on investing in our future in this way, and stick with it for the long haul. There are few quick fixes for the profound wounds of the past - but courage to keep on persevering, and not to lose heart, just as Nelson Mandela stuck to his own principles, will help us get there.

Even if I have to make my apologies for encouraging children out of their classrooms, I was particularly glad that schools along the road brought their pupils to join our human chain.

For I hope that they will have learnt this deeper lesson of directing their lives towards the values, now enshrined in our constitution, for which Madiba strove.

Madiba himself said, "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world", and it is so important that our younger generations are equipped with the ethical foundations, as well as the factual knowledge, that they will need for taking our country into a better future.

Madiba's life reflected the lasting legacy of his own solid education at Healdtown, the Methodist-established college.

Another exemplary student of those excellent historic mission schools is Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, our country's only woman deputy president, and recently appointed executive director for UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women.

She too has followed Madiba's footsteps in demonstrating what it means to serve others and dedicating one's life to making a positive contribution within the world.

Following his example in our own lives is surely the best way to show our love and appreciation of Madiba, especially now in his frailty. May he know that all he has stood for, all he has done, will not be wasted or forgotten.

Let us commit ourselves to making his vision our own, as we continue to pray for him, for his physical comfort, for peace in his soul, and for, in God's own time, a "perfect end" - and pray also for all who love and care for him.

On Mandela Day we pledged to do this, in the words below. Will you make this your pledge, too?

Mandela Day Pledge at the Human Chain

I, one link in this human chain, pledge to do all I can to build an undivided South Africa, free from poverty as envisioned by Nelson Mandela. I will observe and study his conduct and seek to emulate his actions that have helped to bring peace to our country.

A simple smile, a handshake, kindness, a listening ear, encouragement, spreading hope, giving a helping hand, taking action, not tearing down another - that is the Madiba way.

I reject anything or anyone who sets to demean or divide us and place our focus only on the ugliness that forms part of our lives.

Instead of focusing on ugliness and hatred, I choose to focus on beauty and love.

By doing this, I will have the strength to deal with the difficult challenges that I face to make Madiba's dream a reality.

I am committed to being the best person I can possibly be. The stronger I am, the more I can help heal my family and my neighbourhood.

I am committed to the values of our constitution, which says that our country belongs to all who live in it. We have in Madiba one of the world's greatest leaders. It is not always in the life of a people that they are so blessed with inspirational and visionary leadership.

Madiba's maternal side is Khoisan, the earliest people who lived at the Cape, at least 2000 years ago. His paternal side is Xhosa, whose people intermingled with the khoisan over many centuries.

The merging of these two strong human strands has given us a man who has not flinched in his resolve to set his people free.

I commit to encourage all of those I come into contact with to study and emulate his conduct so that we draw on the positive example he has set for us and never forget that our fragile psyches need nurturing and tenderness to bring healing to this tortured nation.

I am proud of how far we have journeyed on the road to self-determination as a people and will continue always to be inspired by his example.

* Thabo Makgoba is the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.
Sunday Independent

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Celebrating Madiba's vision of unity | Sunday Independent

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Happy Birthday Madiba. I could almost feel the whole country breathe a collective great sigh of relief - and joy - as Nelson Mandela reached his landmark 95th birthday on Thursday. How did you celebrate Mandela Day? What did you do for your 67 minutes?

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In Cape Town, Klipfontein Road is a busy main road, going through different communities, which were segregated during Apartheid. A short description of the road and the areas it links can be found here:

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Perhaps in terms of contestation in the UK, London becomes the primary focus of attention for the mobilization of people against the state or companies, as this is the centre of the political system and the economy in many ways. London becomes almost a country in itself, directing all the contestation towards itself. Interestingly Evan Davis, who presents Dragons Den in the UK, recently presented a fascinating programme on the BBC recently about such divisions, primarily in regards the economic rate at which London is expanding yet in its wake is leaving the rest of the UK is falling behind. It provided really interesting insights and some of discussions surrounding the programme highlighted the political implications of this reality and how it was that London had become an urban centre of political, social and economic contestation for the rest of the UK. Information on the programme, 'Mind the Gap - London and the Rest' can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03xp6x7 unfortunately the programme itself is no longer available on Iplayer.

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BBC Two - Mind the Gap: London v the Rest

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Evan Davis explores the economic forces that are polarising Britain

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Interesting book, ‘Conflict in Cities’ though the images could be of any town conurbation, in which its community is severed from others.
Office for National Statistics produces information upon deprivation:

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Local statistics - Office for National Statistics

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Interesting book, ‘Conflict in Cities’ though the images could be of any town conurbation, in which its community is severed from others.
Office for National Statistics produces information upon deprivation:

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Christopher Catherwood's "Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq"

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churchill's folly: how winston churchill created modern iraq

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european history (ie other than britain & ireland)

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history / europe / great britain / general

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Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq

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Churchill's Folly As Britain's colonial secretary in the 1920s, Winston Churchill made a mistake with calamitous consequences and unseen repercussions extending into the twenty-first century. Christopher Catherwood, scholar and adviser to Tony Blair's government, examines Churchill's creation of ...

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if you follow the links you will come to know how communal riots displace people from their homes and create new refuge camps. These riots are infused by the politicians and the common man suffers. Not only in India but every where in the world we observe community discrimination due to which the humanity suffers.

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Religious violence in India includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group, often in the form of rioting. Religious violence in India, especially in recent times, has generally involved Hindus and Muslims, although incidents of violence have also involved atheists, Christians and Sikhs.

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if you follow the links you will come to know how communal riots displace people from their homes and create new refuge camps. These riots are infused by the politicians and the common man suffers. Not only in India but every where in the world we observe community discrimination due to which the humanity suffers.

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By SiliconIndia | Thursday, 27 February 2014, 08:52 Hrs

BANGALORE: In India, religious violence is often accompanied with an act of aggression by supporters of one religious group against followers and organizations of another religious class, mostly in the form of mutiny. It is during the riots when people rely on killing, damage to property, raping, looting and widespread destruction to get their point across. The communal riot that broke out in Muzaffarnagar, UP, in 2013 has once again raised the bar among Indians, who are on the rise of communal clashes in the country and the nature of its sensitivity among the religious groups.
Here is the list of 7 grievous communal riots that India witnessed as listed by IndiaTV.

2013 Muzaffarnagar Violence: Muzaffarnagar has witnessed sporadic clashes from 27th August, 2013. The tension in this town escalated after three youths were killed in a wrangle, that was caused due to an incident of eve-teasing.

The riots took away lives of 40 people and have left 81 people severely injured. During the riots, people began firing at members of other community, and went on a stabbing spree. Thousands of people left their villages out of fear, but normalcy has gradually returned with the intervention from both communities.

Also Read:
Political Assassinations That Shook The World
64 Percent Newborns Die Within the First 4 Weeks In Delhi: Report

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By SiliconIndia | Thursday, 27 February 2014, 08:52 Hrs BANGALORE: In India, religious violence is often accompanied with an act of aggression by supporters of one religious group against followers and organizations of another religious class, mostly in the form of mutiny.

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In England there are many regulations pertaining to The Town and Country Planning and this system is different to NI system:

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Rural Strategy | Preamble | Planning Portal

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A leaflet entitled "What kind of countryside do we want?" was published in August 1991. An advertisement was placed in the three regional newspapers making the public aware of the availability of the leaflet. A number of planning issues were identified and responses were invited from District Councils, farming and amenity groups, and members of the general public.

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In England there are many regulations pertaining to The Town and Country Planning:

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Planning Portal's directories organised by category

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Flag waving is governed by the planning regulations in the UK. In England Statutory Instrument 2372, The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 polices flag pole, gradient of flag paraphernalia and conservation areas too. Note the flags include environmental flags such as Green Flag Community Award Scheme:

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The discussion about (not) flying a flag just reminded me of the communist times when at certain public holidays we had to put up in the windows the Soviet flag next to the Czechoslovak one. Many did it with more or less reluctance because they were expected to do so. Not displaying the soviet flag was a sort of private revolt with or without consequences (depending f.e. on your neighbours). It´s depicted in a great and funny way in the film Kolya:

Louka:
I'm a coward. Last year... I didn't give a damn and it was okay.
But we mustn't give them any excuse now we're in the shit.

Kolya: [ Russian ]: Ours, yours.

Louka: What did you say?

Kolya: [ Russian ]: Ours. Yours.

Louka: So you can understand when you want to.
The thing is, we put up your flag because we have to.
Once we put it up in gratitude.
But that was before we realized that you Russians are scoundrels.

You understand? No, you don't.

You're expansionists! Wherever you march you stay.
But not you, you'll go back to your aunt.

The moment she gets better I'll pack your chemodan and you'll be off.

Kolya: [ Russian ] ''Chemodan.''

Louka: That's all the Russian I know, because they stole mine in Moscow.
You steal suitcases and other people's land.

Kolya: [ Russian ] Ours is red.
(EB: Krasnyj - means "red" in Russian, while "krásný" in Czech means "beautifull")

Louka: What's so beautiful about it? It's red like your underpants.
Now ours is beautiful.

Kolya: - [ Russian ] Ours is red. (krasnyj)

Louka: - You don't understand a thing.

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Kolja / Kolya / Коля - naš vaš / наш ваш

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najbolji dio filma!!! :) best part of the movie Kolya (originally Kolja) is a 1996 Czech film drama about a man whose life is reshaped in an unexpected way. The film was directed by Jan Svěrák and stars his father Zdeněk Svěrák who also wrote the script from a story by Pavel Taussig.

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Many divisions in society there today still seem to run along racial lines. Here's a blog post about some of my observations there, as an outsider, a couple of years ago:

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Cape Town has been in my thoughts since UNICEF launched its report, The State of the World's Children 2012: Children in an Urban World last week. (You can see my overview here.) The report examined the challenges faced by the urban poor. I have seen inequalities in a couple of cities. In Shanghai, the modern skyscrapers contrast dramatically with the older, and more run down areas. In my own city, London, people complain of the "Postcode Lottery" - where access to and quality of services, like education and health and social care, vary in different areas. However, I would like to look at the example of Cape Town here, as, given its history, its level of inequality is extreme. I have also learnt from some amazing people there, who are dedicating their lives to helping children living in urban poverty.

The nature of my work in Cape Town exposed me to the many different "layers" of the city. For my work with my organisation, CHW, I went to the townships and Cape Flats - the most deprived areas. Adequate housing and sanitation systems are lacking. Parents of children who get sick may not be able to afford the bus fare to take their child to the hospital, so they do not benefit from living within close proximity to hospitals, or other services on offer in the city. Meanwhile, I was staying with a family in a quiet neighbourhood, in the suburb of Plumstead, and was also doing an internship at the South African Human Rights Commission in Cape Town's central business district. I later returned to do some research projects at the University of the Western Cape, in Bellville. This all felt worlds apart from the townships and Cape Flats.

Some of my photos from Cape Town:

Top left: a home in a township; Top right: the view from the end of my road in Plumstead;

Bottom left: Children at the Cape Flats. This was in the middle of the day and they were not at school;

Bottom right: View of the centre of Cape Town from Table Mountain.

Violence is a major issue in Cape Town. The Mexican research group Cape Town as the most dangerous city outside the Americas. (Latin America accounted for forty out of the fifty most dangerous cities in the world). The study and list can be downloaded in Spanish I always got the feeling, from my friends in Cape Town, that Johannesburg was the more dangerous city, although I have no firsthand experience of life there. Seguridad, Justicia y Paz recently carried out a study based on murder rates in cities and named here, or see this English article from the Epoch Times. The South African.com reported that some Cape Town authorities questioned the sources used for the report, and argued that other areas, such as Port Elizabeth and East London (in South Africa, not the UK!) were more violent than Cape Town. Chapter three of UNICEF's report discusses various urban challenges, including violence. It quotes a study which shows that in more unequal societies, people suffer from the experience of relative deprivation, which leads to high rates of crime and violence.

My organisation, CHW, works with a creche in the area of Retreat, run for children from the townships and Cape Flats. Its founder, Rita, told me that it is important that she provides this service as there are a lot of mothers who need to work, but have nowhere to leave their children. She also works hard to give the children the best start to life through education and providing food for them. When she has funds, she takes the children on trips. I joined her one day, when she was taking some of the children to eat at the chain restaurant, Spur. Rita explained that she wanted the children to have these experiences so that they would realise that there were better things beyond the immediate environment where they are living, so they could strive to reach them as they got older, instead of giving up and staying where they are. Rita has recently opened a second creche.

Some of our other partner organisations work to help the urban poor in other ways. The Future Factory runs sports programmes in schools and holds other sports events - as this can build the children's confidence and also keeps them off the streets and away from criminality and gangs. Its founder, Anne, works tirelessly everyday on these programmes and also supports feeding programmes in townships and helps creches and schools in the most disadvantaged areas of the city. We, at CHW, are also hoping to support the Sarah Fox Children's Convalescent Hospital in Athlone. Children who have had operations or suffered from serious illnesses go there to recover. The staff told me that the children would not be able to recover at home, as the conditions in which they lived were so bad, that it is likely the children would become more sick. The children stay at Sarah Fox until they are strong enough to return home.

Anne running a Future Factory sports event for teenagers who are living in townships and the Cape Flats.

CHW supports projects in Romania too, and the local organisations we work with, that help the Roma population, also have to respond to the challenges of inequality. Chapter three of UNICEF's report gives a case study about the isolation of Roma children in Romania, which illustrates further issues of marginalised children.

UNICEF's report said that statistics often compare children living in rural and urban areas. These figures hide the problems faced by those living in urban poverty, as they include data from richer areas of the same city too. However, for people like Rita, Anne and the staff at the Sarah Fox Hospital, these children are not some hidden statistic - they are the children they work with everyday, in the hope of providing them with more resources in the present, and more opportunities for a better future. We can all do something - whether it is raising awareness of the problems, or finding an initiative in our local cities to volunteer with, or help in other ways, or supporting a project in a city further away. UNICEF has brought the issue to our attention and now it is time to act, just like Rita, Anne and the Sarah Fox staff have been doing.

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Cape Town: A City of Contrasts - Some Thoughts After Reading UNICEF's Report

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Cape Town has been in my thoughts since UNICEF launched its report, The State of the World's Children 2012: Children in an Urban World last week. (You can see my overview here.) The report examined the challenges faced by the urban poor. I have seen inequalities in a couple of cities.

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Recently there was this huge discussion in Britain about the class divide as a survey reveal a structure of 7 classes

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People in the UK now fit into seven social classes, a major survey conducted by the BBC suggests.

It says the traditional categories of working, middle and upper class are outdated, fitting 39% of people.

It found a new model of seven social classes ranging from the elite at the top to a "precariat" - the poor, precarious proletariat - at the bottom.

More than 161,000 people took part in the Great British Class Survey, the largest study of class in the UK.

Class has traditionally been defined by occupation, wealth and education. But this research argues that this is too simplistic, suggesting that class has three dimensions - economic, social and cultural.

The BBC Lab UK study measured economic capital - income, savings, house value - and social capital - the number and status of people someone knows.

The study also measured cultural capital, defined as the extent and nature of cultural interests and activities.

The new classes are defined as:

Elite - the most privileged group in the UK, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the highest levels of all three capitals

Established middle class - the second wealthiest, scoring highly on all three capitals. The largest and most gregarious group, scoring second highest for cultural capital

Technical middle class - a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital. Distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy

New affluent workers - a young class group which is socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital

Traditional working class - scores low on all forms of capital, but is not completely deprived. Its members have reasonably high house values, explained by this group having the oldest average age at 66

Emergent service workers - a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital

Precariat, or precarious proletariat - the poorest, most deprived class, scoring low for social and cultural capital

The researchers said while the elite group had been identified before, this is the first time it had been placed within a wider analysis of the class structure, as it was normally put together with professionals and managers.

At the opposite extreme they said the precariat, the poorest and most deprived grouping, made up 15% of the population.

The sociologists said these two groups at the extremes of the class system had been missed in conventional approaches to class analysis, which have focused on the middle and working classes.

Methodology

Professor of sociology at Manchester University, Fiona Devine, said the survey really gave a sense of class in 21st Century Britain.

The survey has really allowed us to drill down and get a much more complete picture of class in modern Britain
Prof Fiona Devine, Manchester University

"What it allows us is to understand is a more sophisticated, nuanced picture of what class is like now.

"It shows us there is still a top and a bottom, at the top we still have an elite of very wealthy people and at the bottom the poor, with very little social and cultural engagement," she said.

"It's what's in the middle which is really interesting and exciting, there's a much more fuzzy area between the traditional working class and traditional middle class.

"There's the emergent workers and the new affluent workers who are different groups of people who won't necessarily see themselves as working or middle class.

"The survey has really allowed us to drill down and get a much more complete picture of class in modern Britain."

The researchers also found the established middle class made up 25% of the population and was the largest of all the class groups, with the traditional working class now only making up 14% of the population.

They say the new affluent workers and emergent service workers appear to be the children of the "traditional working class," which they say has been fragmented by de-industrialisation, mass unemployment, immigration and the restructuring of urban space.

The Great British class calculator

The original survey contained more than 140 questions and covered wealth, recreation and social networks

See where you fit in the new model

Find out how Britain is segmented

Use the calculator Explore more BBC citizen science discoveries
BBC Lab UK worked with Prof Mike Savage of the London School of Economics and Prof Devine on the study.

The findings have been published in the Sociology Journal and presented at a conference of the British Sociological Association on Wednesday.

Researchers asked a series of questions about income, house value, savings, cultural and leisure activities and the occupations of friends.

They were able to determine a person's economic, social and cultural capital scores from the answers and analysed the scores to create its class system.

The GBCS was launched online in January 2011, but data showed participants were predominantly drawn from the well-educated social groups.

To overcome this a second identical survey was run with a survey company GFK, with a sample of people representing the population of the UK as a whole, using the information in parallel.

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People in the UK now fit into seven social classes, a major survey conducted by the BBC suggests. It says the traditional categories of working, middle and upper class are outdated, fitting 39% of people. It found a new model of seven social classes ranging from the elite at the top to a "precariat" - the poor, precarious proletariat - at the bottom.

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It interestingly probes how social inequality and the lack of other avenues through which to channel grievances about it, as perceived by the rioters themselves, contributed to causing the London Riots of Summer 2011.

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The relationship between inequality, conflict and violence is a very interesting and sometimes vexing one. In this paper, Chris Cramer explores this relationship, and argues that inequality does not simply or automatically lead to violence.

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Division may arise from a lack of willingness to communicate or attend voluntary dispute resolution arbitration as an alternative to going to court. For more detailed information of arbitration:

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Where I live (Manchester) people there are almost 90% more people with a level 4 qualification than a degree:

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'Tapestry of Colours' is a portrait of the migrant community in Northern Ireland.

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'Tapestry of Colours' is an emotive feature length documentary directed by Zhenia Mahdi-Nau, which explores the fusion of cultures in Northern Ireland. It features personal and moving interviews with individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures, set against colourful and unusual festivals with a strong emphasis on music.

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Just came from a lecture that used statistics from the Northern Ireland Life and Time Survey, about NI identity and how people self-identify. In the most recent census (2011) 40% surveyed identified as British, 25% as Irish, 21% as Northern Irish (the first time this category was given), 2 or more 9%, other 5%.

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Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey Homepage

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Personal interests are a big contributor to the conflicts and divisions we are seeing in the world today. I will give an example of Southern Sudan massacre

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Corpses lining Bentiu's main road, piles of lifeless figures outside a mosque, so many dead bodies they have to be removed in the jaws of a bulldozer. The images from Bentiu are deeply disturbing. The killings have been condemned by the United Nations, and described as an " abomination" by the United States. Such horror will strengthen calls to put an end to the conflict, and so it should. What happened in Bentiu is only one in a long series of massacres, not just committed during this four-month-old war, but stretching back decades into South Sudan's troubled history.

Riek Machar and his commanders have denied responsibility for the hundreds of deaths in Bentiu, either feigning ignorance, blaming a security vacuum after the government troops left the town, or accusing the government soldiers of murdering the civilians as they prepared to flee the town. However, the UN said the killings continued for almost two days after the rebels had announced the capture of Bentiu, a period described by the main rebel leader in the area as one in which his forces were " mopping and cleaning up" in the town. Privately, one rebel source admitted to me that the rebels had carried out the massacre.

There is particular outrage over what the UN is describing as "the targeted killing of civilians based on their ethnic origins and nationality" in Bentiu. The mainly Nuer rebels reportedly killed non-Nuers, Nuers perceived not to support them, and Sudanese living in Bentiu. This war has, on the frontlines and in Internet forums, taken on traits of naked ethnic hostility. The rebels' largely Nuer fighters often say they took up arms because of the slaughter of their relatives in Juba at the start of this conflict.

Revenge has been taken, in Bentiu and elsewhere, on President Salva Kiir's ethnic group, the Dinka, and others seen as supporting him. Sudanese groups say the Sudanese citizens who died in Bentiu were traders. They were almost certainly targeted because the South Sudanese rebels accuse the Sudanese rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement of fighting for Kiir. My rebel source claimed that those slaughtered in the mosque were JEM soldiers who had taken off their uniforms when the rebels approached.

The mass killings, ethnic targeting and the UN's claim that hate speech, including incitement to carry out "vengeful sexual violence against women from another community", was broadcast by rebel commanders on the local radio network, has led some to draw parallels with Rwanda. Shocking though the latest violence is, it thankfully does not come close to mirroring the genocide in Rwanda 20 years ago, when up to a million people were killed in 100 days. A closer comparison comes from South Sudan itself.

This conflict has been marked by a persistent disregard for the sanctity of civilian lives. Both sides have killed non-combatants, including women and children. Both sides have carried out massacres. The first was in Juba, when troops loyal to Kiir went door to door looking for those they considered supporters of Machar. In some cases, belonging to the same ethnic group was considered sufficient evidence. Rebels, and in particular the unruly mob known as the White Army, have raped and slaughtered in Bor and Malakal, including in the hospitals of both towns. In most cases, civilians who reached a UN base were safe. Not always though. In Akobo, and last week in Bor, displaced people inside a UN base were murdered by intruders. The UN believes the Bor attack may have been a war crime.

There should be a credible investigation to establish whether what happened in Bentiu, but also in Juba, Bor, Malakal and elsewhere, constituted crimes against humanity.

Ethnicity is not the only driver for these abuses. The war began because of political tensions within the governing Sudan People's Liberation Movement. People fight for a variety of reasons: The bounty of victory; the desire for revenge; self-defence; community pressure; and many other factors.

Ethnicity is not the only driver for these abuses. The war began because of political tensions within the governing Sudan People's Liberation Movement. People fight for a variety of reasons: The bounty of victory (both large, in the case of politicians hoping to govern, and small, like soldiers carrying away looted goods after combat); the desire for revenge; self-defence; community pressure and many other factors.

Yet within this complicated web of motivations, ethnic animosity is undoubtedly present. Building a cohesive nation out of more than 60 ethnic groups, which have relatively little in common beyond a common hostility to rule from Khartoum, has been one of South Sudan's biggest challenges since independence in 2011. Every mass killing in which one community targets another makes that task all the harder. It is helpful to remember that there are examples that buck this depressing trend.

Every war has massacres, of course, but South Sudan's own history is full of them. South Sudan's own national narrative is in part constructed through common revulsion at abuses carried out by Arab slave traders, Ottoman officials, brutal British "pacification" campaigns, and attacks carried out by Sudanese soldiers and allied militias during the two north-south civil wars that preceded South Sudan's independence.

At least 1,000 southerners were murdered in Juba in 1965, and educated southerners were killed at a wedding party in Wau the same year, during the first conflict (1955-72); hundreds of thousands of others died in combat or through hunger.

The second civil war (1983-2005) was longer and even more devastating. Often the violence was among rival southern Sudanese groups. In perhaps the most famous example, Machar broke away from John Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Army, protesting against Garang's lack of democracy and human rights abuses. Yet, soon enough, Machar's forces carried out the 1991 Bor massacre. Amnesty International estimated at least 2,000 civilians were killed, though the number may have been higher. In all, it is estimated that 2 million people died in the second north-south war, that led to South Sudan's independence.

This historical suffering has had a brutalising effect. Tragically, many South Sudanese have only known conflict and its ravages throughout their lives. I once interviewed a Murle woman, Nyandit, who had been shot by Nuer raiders who stormed through Murle land in the east of Jonglei state in late 2011 and early 2012. A bullet had grazed her cheek, and another had hit her leg, a decade after she had survived another deadly assault by the same group. On this occasion, Nyandit's only child, a three-year-old boy, was snatched from her by the attackers. Ten of her relatives were killed. She showed no surprise. This was life. Her relatives would seek revenge and the cycle would continue.

In the period before and immediately after independence, deadly inter-ethnic cattle raids in Jonglei state were one of South Sudan's greatest challenges, a visible manifestation of the weakness of the state, the lack of opportunities for young men and the ethnic fractures in the new nation. Each clash created more grieving relatives, and a greater need for revenge.

In some ways, the civil war is similar, albeit played out on a vaster, more political scale, one that threatens the stability of the nation as a whole. The White Army is now part of Machar's forces and stands accused of some of the worst abuses in Bor and Malakal. South Sudanese are desperate for all this carnage to stop. Yet like Nyandit, many are wearily resigned to violence, numbed by the weight and abundance of past blows. One South Sudanese friend told me he did not think the Bentiu massacre would change people's perception of Riek Machar much, because Salva Kiir's troops would have done the same given the chance. It is impossible to escape the conclusion that as long as the fighting continues, there will be more horrendous scenes like the one in Bentiu.
James Copnall is the author of "A Poisonous Thorn in our Hearts" about Sudan and South Sudan after the 2011 split. He was the BBC correspondent for both countries from 2009-12. He was also based in Ivory Coast (2004-7) and Morocco (2008-9).

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Corpses lining Bentiu's main road, piles of lifeless figures outside a mosque, so many dead bodies they have to be removed in the jaws of a bulldozer. The images from Bentiu are deeply disturbing. The killings have been condemned by the United Nations, and described as an " abomination" by the United States.

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Personal interests are a big contributor to the conflicts and divisions we are seeing in the world today. I will give an example of Southern Sudan massacre

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there are interesting ways in which attempts have been made to 'rebrand' Belfast since the Good Friday Agreement. This article by Steve Baker explores some of the issues with this process.

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Casting off Belfast's bad image and reputation has been a priority for policy makers in Northern Ireland. The city once better known for violent sectarian conflict and a reliance on a substantial subvention from the British exchequer is being rebranded as a competitive city, 'open for business' and offering the sort of boutique lifestyle and cultural experience deemed prerequisites in attracting foreign investment and talented, creative workers. The transformation is most conspicuous in the remaking of the city's centre. Belfast can now boast cultural and business quarters, grand conference and concert halls; large retail arcades; and attractive riverside developments that combine residential life, work and leisure facilities. The signs of economic dependency and political primitiveness are being erased as the city strives to present an exciting, dynamic urban environment that is free from the signs of the battlefield. What remains is repackaged as heritage.

Complimenting the physical transformation of Belfast is a concerted 'propaganda of peace' that explicitly links political progress with economic regeneration.[1] In the late 1980s the Northern Ireland Office commissioned television 'advertisements' that encouraged people to report paramilitary activity to the police. Here Belfast was presented as a derelict, dystopia, patrolled by hooded gunmen. But by 1995, the year after the ceasefires, the NIO message had moved on: the images were now of the region's sporting personalities and celebrities, as well as offering images of beautiful sunrises over Belfast and stunning coastal and rural scenery. Accompanied by the music of Van Morrison, these short-films, made for television, had the look of glossy tourist advertisements. They were not just selling peace, they were presenting Northern Ireland to a domestic audience as a potentially desirable commodity in the global market place.

This is what it means to be a post-conflict city. It is not just the absence of violence that defines it. It is the submission of the city to neo-liberal rationality. As Jewesbury and Porter (2010) argue, Belfast is subject to a 'moralising politics of social and economic development.' They go on to say that

post-Agreement Belfast has, to a significant degree, become a story in which the twin moral goods of political progress and privatised, neo-liberal economic development are folded into one another.[2]

This apparently natural correlation of peace and the global free-market was reiterated recently by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron in October 2013, when he spoke of 'a new Northern Ireland open for business, ready for investment, strengthening the foundations for peace, stability and prosperity and determined to be defined not by divided past but by shared future'. But there is a fly in the ointment of what Cameron referred to as 'this incredible success story'. Belfast (and Northern Ireland) remains deeply, politically divided and prone to periodic violence, putting the city's post-conflict designation into question.

The union flag protests in Belfast that began in December 2012 are a case in point and often held up as a throwback to the city's 'bad old days'. But seen in the context of the concerted efforts to rebrand Belfast as a competitive city, they are as much an indication of how much has changed since the peace process. The flag protests began in December 2012 when Belfast City Council voted to reduce the number of days that the Union flag would fly above city hall. Unionists met the decision with anger seeing it as diminution of the city's British identity. In the run-up to the city council vote the mainstream unionist parties had distributed 40,000 copies of an inflammatory leaflet in which they accused the centrist Alliance Party of conniving with Irish republicans in the removal of the flag. In fact the Alliance Party had been advocating compromise, arguing against the flag's complete removal and for it to be flown on designated days. But in scapegoating Alliance, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in particular, was looking to capitalise on grassroots unionist disaffection, helping them regain the East Belfast constituency for its leader and Northern Ireland's First Minster Peter Robinson (a seat he lost to the Alliance Party's Naomi Long at the last general election). It was a cynical and opportunistic move, and typically, unionist leaders quickly lost control of the situation as protests, fuelled by working class unionist resentment and alienation, gained a momentum of their own. Demonstrations were held, roads in and out of the city were blocked, Alliance Party offices attacked, as were the homes of some of its members, and there were frequent violent clashes between police and protestors. Once again Northern Ireland was making international news headlines for all the wrong reasons, prompting the business community to intervene with stark warnings about the damage being done to the region's international reputation and the commercial life of the city. According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) the cost of the flag protests to Belfast businesses lay somewhere in the region of £10 - 15m.

Concern for retailers, restaurateurs and pub owners in the run-up to Christmas 2012 prompted a social media campaign urging customers to #takebackthecity from loyalist protestors. In what looked like a peculiar re-alignment of the Northern Ireland conflict, the #takebackthecity campaign proposed that retailers and consumers challenge loyalist belligerence by engaging in acts of conspicuous consumption. The new battle-lines were emphasised the weekend before Christmas when the Belfast Telegraph carried some good news for city centre businesses on its front page, with a headline that declared: 'Late-night shoppers defy flag protestors: festive cheer at last for retailers.' There was more welcome news for retailers after Christmas in the traditionally lean month of January when the Northern Ireland Finance Minister, the DUP's Sammy Wilson, announced that the Stormont executive would give £600,000 to a major promotional campaign, ' Backin Belfast'. The aim of the campaign was to revitalise trade in the city centre and counter the impact of the flag protests.

There is surely something ironic about a DUP minister giving money to a bruised business class in order to repair the commercial damage his party helped to cause. But it is a sign of how local politicians, skilled in the arts of playing to the fears and prejudices of their traditional voters, are now also obliged to wield administrative and executive power at Stormont in the interests of local entrepreneurs and foreign investors. The problem is that the distance between these constituencies is vast.

The disaffected working class unionists that provided the bulwark of flag protestors increasingly look upon the peace process in terms of what they consider themselves to have lost; most obviously, in this instance, their majority on Belfast City Council. Added to this is the disintegration of the state to which they have historically given their allegiance. Stormont, of course, was prorogued in 1972 but now the United Kingdom, more broadly, is undergoing a radical transformation with the contraction of the welfare state and the gradual break-up of Britain. Waning political power has been accompanied by a loss of economic status, with the disappearance of the heavy industries that once provided working class unionists with employment and prestige. Seen in this context, the dispute in Belfast over flags has less to do with an assertion of the old unionist supremacy and more to do with an economically and politically beleaguered community trying to insist upon symbolic presence in a city that is changing and in which it is becoming increasingly marginalised.

Demographics matter in Belfast and are given an ugly sectarian inflection throughout Northern Ireland where unionists tend to be Protestants and nationalists tend to be Catholics. The Protestant population in the region is in decline and ageing, while in Belfast, Catholics now outnumber Protestants 49% to 42%. Catholics also outstrip Protestants in terms of educational achievement, making up two-thirds of Northern Ireland's university intake, a figure that perhaps bodes better for Catholic social mobility than Protestant. And yet working class Catholics live in areas that are still disproportionately represented among the poorest wards in Northern Ireland. Indeed these wards were deprived at the start of the troubles in 1969 and they remain deprived today.

The volatility of sectarian relations in Belfast often deflects critical attention from the emergence of a new social group: a young, educated and aspiring middle class that has sufficient income to enjoy the city's new culture of restaurants, shopping malls, bars and night clubs. This is the group most easily rallied by the call to #takebackthecity from the predominately working class flag protestors who many view with a mixture of incomprehension and contempt. The disruption caused by the flag protests moved one local commentator to advance a call-to-arms to his fellow middle class citizens of Northern Ireland.

Just as the young, educated middle classes in the Maghreb states, Eastern Europe and Asia are subjugated by autocratic dictators, so it is that the young, educated, middle-class in Northern Ireland are subjugated by "barbaric sectarian leaders" [...] and the feral communities that they play-out to.

The article ends by encouraging the middle class to engage in a campaign of peaceful protest, to challenge the 'delinquent extremists', 'jackboot lunatic class' and the 'reactionary throwback politicians and street thugs that continually soil the good name of Northern Ireland.'

Whether this enterprising young middle class can manifest itself in any significant way remains to be seen. Its potential composition is not clear, although the good news stories about Northern Ireland's growing creative sector and knowledge economy[3] give a clue to where its personnel may be drawn from. One of the key problems in trying to quantify or qualify this group is the absence of any real data. As the Community Relations Council's Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report from 2013 notes: 'The hold of poverty on the research agenda has led to the eclipse of inequality as a category.' And with it, perhaps, goes any serious attention to Northern Ireland's middle class generally, never mind Belfast's emerging entrepreneurs.

But if this enterprising young middle class does grow it may have already identified its crucial constitutive outside in the shape of working class unionism. An indication of this is the class character of the criticism levelled at flag protestors, which has sparked a fierce and often bad tempered debate among some local commentators.[4] As Stephanie Lawler points out, middle class identities are often forged through their disgust at working-class existence and by comparing their own good taste, high morals, work ethic and spending power with the assumed absence of such qualities among the lower orders[5]. This sort of identity formation is apparent in the response of 'middle Ulster' to the flag protests. Working class unionists have been routinely 'satirised' on various social media for their perceived lack of decorum, their accents and poor literacy-skills.[6] More widely they are berated for their apparent lack of economic understanding (can't they see what they are doing to the Northern Ireland brand?), their political immaturity (can't they see the harm they're doing to themselves and their own communities?) and their atavism (they're stuck in the past and backward looking). Conversely, 'middle Ulster' seems to self-associate with a hard-headed understanding of the economic realities that face Northern Ireland in tough times, looking boldly to the future, identifying with the narrative of Belfast's rejuvenation.

And there is something compelling about that narrative given its obvious expression in Belfast's hosting of spectacular events like the MTV European Music Awards in 2011 and the on-going filming of HBO's acclaimed television series Game of Thrones on the site of city's now redundant shipbuilding industry. The patronage of such global brands is highly prized in Belfast, vouching for the recuperation of the city's international image and reputation, and the economic dividend it brings to boot. The European Music Awards are reported to have generated approximately £22m for the region - £25 for every £1 of public money spent on the event. Meanwhile, the filming of Game of Thrones is estimated to have pumped £65m into the local economy, a substantial return on the £6.05m Northern Ireland Screen Fund (supported by Invest NI) paid in grants to HBO to help with the costs of the first two series. Quite where the surplus money goes is a moot point. But it certainly doesn't seem to be reaching the working class areas that have waited a long time for any sign of the vaunted 'peace dividend' that was promised as an accompaniment to political accord in Northern Ireland. Instead working class constituents have been confronted with a vicious, punitive form of austerity imposed from above, resulting in the loss of jobs, pay, working conditions and public services. At the same time Northern Ireland faces a dramatic process of economic restructuring, which along with an end to paramilitary violence, was always a key objective of the peace process.

This is what Conor McCabe refers to as Northern Ireland's 'double transition', from conflict to political accord, and from a broadly social democratic settlement to neoliberalism. Indeed the 'peace dividend' is better understood, not as some economic bonanza awarded for good political behaviour, but as the region's incorporation into free market capitalism after years dependency. But the potential of this economic transition to threaten peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland should not be underestimated. As McCabe argues:

The rebuilding of Northern Ireland's social space on a stable and secure footing is not possible in a world where people rent their lives, and the lives of their children, from finance and its standing army of lawyers, accountants, stockbrokers and estate agents. The future of Northern Ireland rests with what it holds in common - that is, its health, education, housing and infrastructure networks - as these are the things which all modern societies need in order to reproduce themselves in a sustainable way.[7]

Reflecting upon the prospects for war and peace in the twenty-first century, Eric Hobsbawm points out that 'the more rapidly growing inequalities created by uncontrolled free-market globalisation are natural incubators of grievance and instability'.[8] In a city like Belfast, with two historically antagonistic communities, growing inequality has the potential to create violent competition for diminishing resources. Indeed there is something risible about the idea of rebranding Belfast as a competitive city, where everyone is encouraged to see themselves as entrepreneurs dedicated to the pursuit of profit. Doesn't peace in a divided society require mutuality and cooperation?

What we have instead are the loyalist flag protests, as well as the growing threat from violent Irish republicanism with its own reasons to be disenchanted, that testify to the very real danger of a new wave of violence. Neo-liberalism's answer to conflict is to try to strip away the meaningful cultural and political frameworks within which people are situated, offering consumerism as preferable to political forms of citizenship and solidarity. David Harvey describes the environment in which we find ourselves as 'a world in which the neoliberal ethic of intense, possessive individualism, and its political withdrawal from collective forms of action, becomes the template for human socialization.'[9] As Northern Ireland acquaints itself with neo-liberalism (red in tooth and claw) it is learning that the old communal loyalties are not welcome. Now everyone is expected to acquiesce to the atomising and commercial demands of the market. But the pleasures of the market are not enjoyed evenly. For many people, forms of unreconstructed loyalism and republicanism may provide greater satisfaction than consumerism, which in any case may be out of their financial reach. If there is one thing that can be said for sectarianism, it gives meaning to one's life and it's free at the point of entry.

The choice in Northern Ireland was once a question of constitutional arrangements: would the region be governed as a constituent of the United Kingdom or as a part of a united, sovereign Ireland. With the Good Friday Agreement now over 15 years old, the apparent choice today is between sectarianism and shopping. Certainly the most obvious tensions in Belfast seem to be between an emergent culture of individual, middle class consumer lifestyle choices and residual identities, rooted in stout political allegiances and noisy public manifestations. That should change how we look at the city. The tendency to see political conflict in Belfast as defined by sectarian rivalry shouldn't obscure the important role that contemporary capitalism and class play in its dynamic. Understandably academics and commentators have been fascinated by the thinking and behaviour of loyalists and republicans, but maybe a little more attention needs to be paid to the city's middle class. Its privileged positioning within the institutions of government, education and media, as well as its crucial place among the new entrepreneurs, means that middle class political influence should not be underestimated, allowed to go unnoticed or taken for granted. Since it enjoys relative definitional authority its values and prejudices should be interrogated for the role they play in exacerbating the tensions that beset the city, just as loyalism's and republicanism's are.

This article is part of NLP's series The Contemporary City.

Stephen Baker is a Belfast born educator, researcher and writer. He co-authored The Propaganda of Peace: the role of the media and culture in the Northern Ireland peace process (Intellect, 2010) with Greg McLaughlin and their forthcoming book is The British Media and Bloody Sunday (Intellect, 2014).

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Belfast: New Battle-Lines in a Post-conflict City

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Casting off Belfast's bad image and reputation has been a priority for policy makers in Northern Ireland. The city once better known for violent sectarian conflict and a reliance on a substantial subvention from the British exchequer is being rebranded as a competitive city, 'open for business' and offering the sort of boutique lifestyle and cultural experience deemed prerequisites in attracting foreign investment and talented, creative workers.

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I recently watched '5 Broken Cameras' - about protests from a West Bank village about the West Bank barrier affecting their farms, their land and their movement. Again a weekly protest, filmed by a farmer - each camera telling part of the story over a five year period. Eventually, the farmer was joined by an Israeli co-director pulling together the film for release - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Broken_Cameras The farmer originally bought his camera to film his son - I found the filming of family and community very powerful, making the issues around conflict all too real

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5 Broken Cameras ( Arabic: خمس كاميرات محطمة‎ Khamas Kamīrāt Muḥaṭṭamah; Hebrew: חמש מצלמות שבורות‎ Hamesh Matslemot Shvurot) is a 94-minute documentary film co-directed by Palestinian Emad Burnat and Israeli Guy Davidi. It was shown at film festivals in 2011 and placed in general release by Kino Lorber in 2012.

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This is a group for photographs taken of the Peace Wall in Belfast Northern Ireland. If you have been invited to add one photo, please take it as read that you may add ALL similar photos you may have. There is no limit to how many you can post at a time - this is a collection - not a competition.

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Culture and belonging in Divided Societites

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Culture and belonging in Divided Societites

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From cartoons of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper to displays of the Confederate battle flag over the South Carolina statehouse, acts of cultural significance have set off political conflicts and sometimes violence. These and other expressions and enactments of culture-whether in music, graffiti, sculpture, flag displays, parades, religious rituals, or film-regularly produce divisive and sometimes prolonged disputes. What is striking about so many of these conflicts is their emotional intensity, despite the fact that in many cases what is at stake is often of little material value. Why do people invest so much emotional energy and resources in such conflicts? What is at stake, and what does winning or losing represent? The answers to these questions explored in Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies view cultural expressions variously as barriers to, or opportunities for, inclusion in a divided society's symbolic landscape and political life. Though little may be at stake materially, deep emotional investment in conflicts over cultural acts can have significant political consequences. At the same time, while cultural issues often exacerbate conflict, new or redefined cultural expressions and enactments can redirect long-standing conflicts in more constructive directions and promote reconciliation in ways that lead to or reinforce formal peace agreements. Encompassing work by a diverse group of scholars of American studies, anthropology, art history, religion, political science, and other fields, Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies addresses the power of cultural expressions and enactments in highly charged settings, exploring when and how changes in a society's symbolic landscape occur and what this tells us about political life in the societies in which they take place.

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culture and belonging in divided societies: contestation and symbolic landscapes

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social sciences: textbooks & study guides

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political science / public policy / cultural policy

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central / national / federal government policies

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Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies: Contestation and Symbolic Landscapes

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Buy Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies: Contestation and Symbolic Landscapes by Marc Howard Ross (ISBN: 9780812241457) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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Identity, Conflict and Public Space Mooc

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QUB Wk3 'Identity, Conflict and Public Space'

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Panel discussion for the FutureLearn MOOC course by Queen's University on 'Identity, Conflict and Public Space: Contest and Transformation'. Dr Dominic Bryan, Dr Sam Pehrson, Dr Milena Komarova and Dr Neil Jarman discuss societies with particular kinds of division, and the potential violent conflict that this can produce.

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At the time of writing no significant discussions for a negotiated settlement are in the offing. Indeed, on one level prospects for a negotiated solution appear to be receding with an Israeli policy of ongoing unilateral action such as the completion of the Separation Wall which will act as border around the eastern part of the city and detach the Palestinian areas from their hinterland.

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World Politics / Volume 53 / Issue 03 / April 2001, pp 362-398

Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 2001

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Ethnic Conflict and Civil Society: India and Beyond | World Politics | Cambridge Core

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Ethnic Conflict and Civil Society: India and Beyond - Volume 53 Issue 3 - Ashutosh Varshney

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ETHNIC CONFLICT AND CIVIL SOCIETY India and Beyond