Troubles of the Past?

This collection considers the increasingly central role that memory plays in determining contemporary politics and the future of Northern Irish society. Using an inter-disciplinary approach, it considers how competing narratives of the past are constructed, re-constructed, commemorated and then harnessed to mobilise politics in present day society. Memory politics spans experiences and disciplines, bridging the gap between theory and politics. This volume brings together academics and practitioners to consider the increasingly central role that memory and recalling the past plays in determining the direction of Northern Irish society.Taking a flexible and multi-disciplinary approach, the book provides a thorough review and analysis of material on collective memory and Ireland. Issues explored include current research trends and methodologies of memory, symbols of commemoration and sites of memory, the role of forgetting, the recall and re-memorising of the ‘great events’ of Irish history, the origins and nature of the Troubles, the politics of commemoration and socialisation and the politics of heritage and reconciliation.Troubles of the past? draws on a wide range of expertise to provide crucial understandings not only of how narratives of the past are constructed, reconstructed, understood and commemorated, but also how the themes that emerge are mobilised to political and social effect in the present. This collection brings together academics and practitioners to consider the increasingly central role that memory and recalling the past plays in determining contemporary politics and the future direction of Northern Irish society. Using theoretical, comparative and case-study approaches, it considers not only how narratives of the past are constructed, reconstructed, understood and commemorated, but also the ways in which the key themes that emerge are harnessed and mobilised to political and social effect in the present. The book draws deeply on a wide range of expert opinion and viewpoints to add significantly to existing knowledge surrounding the debates over memory and the ways it is used in Northern Irish society.