Alec Forss defends his thesis Finding Common Ground- Place-making and Coexistence in Post-conflict Belfast.

Alec Forss, PhD candidate in Cultural Anthropology, is about to defend his dissertation Finding Common Ground- Place-making and Coexistence in Post-conflict Belfast.

Based on nine months of ethnographic fieldwork, Alec investigates how Northern Ireland’s capital Belfast is gradually becoming more “shared” after conflict, by looking at everyday practices in segregated communities.

-A main theme running through my research is how, in a context of deep societal and political division, people can find ways of coming together to share space in different ways. Key therefore is illuminating and understanding processes and practices of social and spatial change in a post-conflict city, says Alec.

While divisions persist, people’s daily interactions and place‑making activities can reshape identities and create new possibilities for connection across differences.

-I hope that my research demonstrates some of the less obvious or visible ways in which people can counter the power forces of division. Lifting up ‘alternative’ voices and practices contributes to refining dominant assumptions of the city, allowing one to locate different possibilities for urban life and social relations. This is all the more important in an increasing climate of fear and polarization across many European countries.

The public defence will take place in the Geijer Hall in the English Park, on June 9, at 13.15, with Professor Dominic Bryan from Queen's University Belfast, as opponent. All welcome!