A Troubled Sleep: Risk and Resilience in Contemporary Northern Ireland

In contemporary Northern Ireland, more than two decades after the peace agreement that ended the thirty-year sectarian violence known as "the Troubles" the risk of a return to violent conflict is not only present but growing. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, comparative research, and over 110 hours of face-to-face interviews with a diverse range of political, academic, civil society, and community actors across Northern Ireland, A Troubled Sleep revisits one of the world's most deeply divided societies to analyze Northern Ireland's current vulnerabilities, and points of resilience, as an allegedly "post-conflict" society. By examining the Northern Ireland example, Waller presents deep insight into what happens when identity politics prevail over democracy, when a paralysis in governance leads to a political vacuum for extremist voices to exploit, when de facto social segregation becomes normalized, when acclimatization to violence becomes a generational legacy, and when questions of who we are become secondary to who we are not.

Table of Contents:
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: A Brutal Duality Part I - Wounded Identities Chapter 1: "You're One or the Other:" Social Identities in Deeply Divided Societies Chapter 2: "Two Eyes on the Past:" Northern Ireland's Wounded History Part II - Risk and Resilience in Contemporary Northern Ireland Understanding Risk and Resilience Chapter 3: "Was There Ever A Before?" The Tyranny of Memory Chapter 4: "With Deep Regret and Reluctance:" Governance in a Deeply Divided Society Chapter 5: "The Walls Entered Into Our Souls:" Social Fragmentation in Everyday Life Part III - A Troubled Sleep Chapter 6: "A Farewell to Peace?:" Escalating Risk and Fading Resilience Conclusion: "I Hope It Wasn't All a Waste:" Northern Ireland At Its Centenary Endmatter Index

About the Author :
James Waller is Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and chair of that same department, at Keene State College (NH-US). He is the author of five books, most notably Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing and Confronting Evil: Engaging Our Responsibility to Prevent Genocide. Waller has held numerous visiting professorships, most recently as an honorary visiting research professor in the George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Justice and Security at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland (2017), as well as participating in policymaking and diplomatic efforts to prevent and respond to genocide and violent conflict. In 2017, he was the inaugural recipient of the Engaged Scholarship Prize from the International Association of Genocide Scholars in recognition of his exemplary engagement in advancing genocide awareness and prevention.

Review :
A Troubled Sleep is both a model for scholarship on contemporary issues and a gloomy forecast for the future of Northern Ireland. Waller brings immense scholarly skill to his effort to assess where the road ahead in Northern Ireland may lead ... There is a great deal of substance here, but Waller writes clearly, and one never feels bogged down by the complexities of Northern Ireland. Waller's work tackles the issue of potentially escalating tensions in Northern Ireland through professional expertise via his background in social psychology. The exploration of issues such as responses to Brexit, paramilitary figures, and historical comparisons perfectly serve as basis for the overarching argument, making A Troubled Sleep well worth the read for anyone interested in post-agreement Northern Ireland.