Troubles of the Past? - History, Identity and Collective Memory in Northern Ireland

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.

About the author

James McAuley is Professor of Sociology and Irish Studies at the University of Huddersfield

Product details

• Authors: James Braniff Mcauley
• Assisted by: Máire Braniff (Editor), McAuley James (Editor), Spencer Graham (Editor)
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 03.06.2025
• EAN: 9781526191274
• ISBN: 978-1-5261-9127-4
• No. of pages: 264
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Sociology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, RELIGION / Religious Intolerance, Persecution & Conflict, HISTORY / Europe / Ireland, Northern Ireland, British & Irish history, European history: medieval period, middle ages