Alec Forss

My research concerns processes of social and spatial change in post-conflict Northern Ireland. I am interested in issues around space, borders, identity, memory, peacebuilding, and reconciliation.

After the signing of a formal political peace agreement, post-conflict societies occupy an uncertain status on the continuum of war and peace. Urban spaces often continue to be heavily territorialized along ethno-national lines, relations may be fraught over dealing with the legacy of violence, while the shaping of more inclusive spaces, identities, and narratives encounters considerable resistance and challenges. This project seeks to understand how communities understand and experience socio-spatial change in post-conflict Belfast, Northern Ireland, over two decades on from the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, at a time of political instability in the aftermath of Brexit. With a focus on the resignification of space, everyday spatial practices, and how boundaries are mediated, it seeks to challenge the popular assumption of Belfast as a “divided city.”