Towards a Sociosomatic History of Northern Ireland's Troubles
Lead Research Organisation:
Teesside University
Department Name: Sch of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law
Abstract
This network has been designed to ask how we might tell a different story of conflict and peace-building. It will examine the potential of sensory history - and an awareness of how our bodies exist in the world - to unlock alternative narratives of the Northern Irish Troubles. Using sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, the network will ask how we might discover the ways people experienced societal structures and human interactions at a deep, often unconscious level. The network proposes bringing together academics, policy makers and arts practitioners to explore ways of drawing out, articulating and representing memories of life during, and emerging from, conflict.
The Troubles began just over fifty years ago, marking now a significant memory moment in its history. Fiftieth anniversaries bring an awareness that living memory is beginning to fade (and indeed visibly die) and is shifting into a cultural or societal form of remembrance. This can sometimes mean that narratives congeal around partisan versions of the past that confirm binary political identities and miss the individual, embodied experience. Religion and political affiliation were not the only factors shaping people's lives during the Troubles: they were also shaped by class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, (dis)ability and geography. This network aims to develop a methodological approach that draws out the complexity of individual experiences in a way that also allows for a better understanding of the broader society in which people lived.
The network proposes bringing together academics from the arts and humanities, natural sciences and social sciences to develop a sociosmatic methodology for understanding the Troubles. This means bringing together the study of interior lives and external structures in order to understand the impact of social dynamics on the individual. It will draw on the expertise of disciplines ranging from neuroscience, psychology and philosophy to history, geography and film studies to create a durable theoretical approach to the subject. Scholars from drama, music, dance and photography will share knowledge of multi-sensory research. The network will also work closely with arts practitioners to create a dynamic space for memory gathering and representation.
Each network event will be designed to inspire discussion, encourage reflexivity and create meaningful collaborations between academics and arts practitioners. Morning sessions will include an arts-based activity which serves as stimulus for conversations in the afternoon and explores different representations of the sociosomatic past. Significance will also be given to the phenomenological experience of all participants. The aim is to construct a multi-sensory programme which includes walking, watching, hearing, tasting and listening as well as speaking.
It is anticipated that the network's findings will be of benefit to a range of constituents. The academic audience is inter-disciplinary and includes scholars of embodied representations of the past as well as those who work on conflict and post-conflict societies internationally. A central aim of the network is to build capacity in this area of study and the programme contains a series of masterclasses aimed at early-career scholars. Moreover, the significance of arts practitioners to the network will provide avenues for further collaborations. The main findings of the network will be sent to the Commission for Victims and Survivors as part of its consultation process and contribute to preparations for the Oral History Archive as part of the Stormont House Agreement. Through its interventions and innovations, the network will formulate new and innovative ways to retell and re-present the stories of contested pasts.
The Troubles began just over fifty years ago, marking now a significant memory moment in its history. Fiftieth anniversaries bring an awareness that living memory is beginning to fade (and indeed visibly die) and is shifting into a cultural or societal form of remembrance. This can sometimes mean that narratives congeal around partisan versions of the past that confirm binary political identities and miss the individual, embodied experience. Religion and political affiliation were not the only factors shaping people's lives during the Troubles: they were also shaped by class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, (dis)ability and geography. This network aims to develop a methodological approach that draws out the complexity of individual experiences in a way that also allows for a better understanding of the broader society in which people lived.
The network proposes bringing together academics from the arts and humanities, natural sciences and social sciences to develop a sociosmatic methodology for understanding the Troubles. This means bringing together the study of interior lives and external structures in order to understand the impact of social dynamics on the individual. It will draw on the expertise of disciplines ranging from neuroscience, psychology and philosophy to history, geography and film studies to create a durable theoretical approach to the subject. Scholars from drama, music, dance and photography will share knowledge of multi-sensory research. The network will also work closely with arts practitioners to create a dynamic space for memory gathering and representation.
Each network event will be designed to inspire discussion, encourage reflexivity and create meaningful collaborations between academics and arts practitioners. Morning sessions will include an arts-based activity which serves as stimulus for conversations in the afternoon and explores different representations of the sociosomatic past. Significance will also be given to the phenomenological experience of all participants. The aim is to construct a multi-sensory programme which includes walking, watching, hearing, tasting and listening as well as speaking.
It is anticipated that the network's findings will be of benefit to a range of constituents. The academic audience is inter-disciplinary and includes scholars of embodied representations of the past as well as those who work on conflict and post-conflict societies internationally. A central aim of the network is to build capacity in this area of study and the programme contains a series of masterclasses aimed at early-career scholars. Moreover, the significance of arts practitioners to the network will provide avenues for further collaborations. The main findings of the network will be sent to the Commission for Victims and Survivors as part of its consultation process and contribute to preparations for the Oral History Archive as part of the Stormont House Agreement. Through its interventions and innovations, the network will formulate new and innovative ways to retell and re-present the stories of contested pasts.
| Title | Reunion |
| Description | Kabosh theatre company collaborated with Women's Aid NI to commission a powerful play looking at the impact of domestic violence on older victims in a conflict / post-conflict society: 'Reunion' by Julie Dutkiewicz. There have been numerous academic research papers examining the increased levels of domestic violence in a conflict / post conflict society, but this project humanised those directly impacted and provoked informed facilitated discussions around the sensitive themes. It was performed publicly on 3 occasions in March 2023 for 145 attendees. One of the performances and discussions was BSL interpreted. It has been revived for 11 closed community performances in April 2025 (estimated attendees 264), and post-show sessions included a discussion of the End Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) strategy. It piece will continue to be revived in response to need. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | This project is ongoing and evolving. 'Reunion' directly engaged with older victims of domestic violence. The play was the result of discussions through the network and looks at the impact of sustained physical and emotional trauma. The female protagonist speaks about the corporeal legacy of physical violence and how she only fully appreciates this when she sleeps soundly on her first night in the women's refuge - she questions how she survived with a lack of physical 'quiet' for all those years; how surprisingly resilient her being is. Through following a single central story, the play humanises a difficult narrative of trauma through its hidden changes. The narrative is informed by interviews with victims and the local support network. The fictional play emerged out of archived interviews. |
| Description | Drawing on experiences of academics, museum curators, heritage practitioners, community organisers and a large public audience, the network began by identifying gaps in the archived narratives of the Troubles and good practice in representations of the conflict. As a result of this first network event, the idea of 'opening up a space' for conversation and reflection became a key feature of subsequent events. This was understood literally and metaphorically, in terms of inner lives and public spaces, and emotionally and physically. This sense of space shaped subsequent network events which developed themes of curated spaces, architectural spaces, and creative spaces representing individual trauma. Contributors to the network were asked to explore the sensory impact of violence on the human body. The result was the development of methodological approaches which capture the reverberating impact of trauma and the difficulty of representing fractured, emotionally charged, embodied memory. These methodologies address the temporality of sensory experience in the wake of conflict. They explore how and when past events emerge in our consciousness and the role of cultural creativity in enabling their representation. The network presentations and conversations have resulted in a forthcoming publication which will be multi-disciplinary and multi-sensory. The complexity of this methodological process is captured in works across the collection. The network has built capacity through relationships which will form the basis of current and future research and funding applications. We have built strong relationships with all those who participated in network events, from a range of academic institutions, cultural institutions and including individual arts practitioners and policy makers, providing a diverse, multi-disciplinary international network. Bursaries were available for each event for post-graduate students, precariously employed scholars and arts practitioners. Through this bursary scheme, we also invited members of the refugee population to participate in network events, expanding our discussions of conflict, confinement and trauma. Subsequent to scheduled network events, we have developed an important relationship with the International Conflict Research Institute at Ulster University and will work with INCORE on the creative output for this network which will include an arts performance and installation. A working group is co-ordinating this event which is scheduled to take place in Ulster University's exhibition space in the main York Street campus in April 2026. This venue is free and accessible for the public. The work of this network is evolving and ongoing, demonstrating the commitment of all involved to this sensory methodological approach and their belief in the significance of its findings. |
| Exploitation Route | A sensory approach to memories of conflict and violence allows for stories that have remained dormant to emerge in multiple, expressive and non-judgemental forms. One of the important elements of this network has been in finding verbal and non-verbal ways to represent trauma and to represent its impact on the body. This approach - including the use of drama - is a way to open up conversations with vulnerable and marginalised groups who may not be able to articulate their experiences in a verbal or linear way. |
| Sectors | Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://sensingconflictnetwork.com/ |
| Description | The findings have been used to inform a piece of community theatre commissioned by Kabosh Theatre Company. The company worked with Women's Aid NI to create a drama that is continuing to be shown to groups in order to open up space for discussion. The director of Kabosh Theatre Company said of her experience of being part of the network: The main thing I learnt from the network was undoubtedly how personal context impacts significantly on professional practice, and how leaning into that enhances the quality of the output, the resulting honesty gives the work integrity through its uniqueness. As the network contributors engaged in self-reflective practice, practice unashamedly subjective, we were all afforded supported time and space to self-analyse. The collective informed interrogation, championed individuality, supported confidence, and opened avenues to new collaborators. It really helped Kabosh and I recognise the value of socially engaged theatre in provoking animated debate on the legacy of conflict. It helped reinvigorate our work. I now personally frame the creative choices we explore: so they are not only socially contextualised but personally framed. Feedback from audience members included: " As a young person it was interesting to see the barriers in place for older generations struggling with this issue - also, enjoyed the wider mental health issues of adults presented. The comfort in everyone struggling with their own issues was empowering. " Female, 18 - 25, Greyabbey "Powerful, affecting, upsetting- needs to be told generation after generation" Over 65, Bangor "An excellent way to initiate and provoke conversation" Over 65, Four Winds |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Description | Conflict Research Institute (INCORE) at Ulster University |
| Organisation | Ulster University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | INCORE at Ulster University will work with the network to host an arts installation related to the network's findings, and involve art works from at least ten of the artists, filmmakers, poets, etc. who contributed throughout the grant period. Roisín Higgins and Cahal McLaughlin will oversee the curation of material produced by network participants including engagement activities which will share the network's ideas and findings with the public and relevant public bodies. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ulster University is providing the space to host this public-facing event. This will be a flagship activity in 2026 to align with the new strategic development of INCORE. This collaboration is being supported by Prof Brandon Hamber (John Hume and Thomas P. O'Neill Chair in Peace, UU) and Prof Graham Dawson (Visiting Professor, INCORE). |
| Impact | This collaboration is multidisciplinary, including representatives across the Arts and Humanities including History, Film, Architecture, Fine Art, Creative Writing, Cultural Studies and Transitional Justice. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Kabosh Theatre |
| Organisation | Kabosh Theatre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Kabosh Theatre Company is a key partner in the AHRC Network, Towards a Sociosomatic History of the Troubles. The Director of the company is a member of the core group and part of the management group and has been fully involved in the discussions about research aims and findings as a result of the network. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Kabosh provided a theatrical piece for a networking event held in Belfast on 23 September. 'Quartered' was an hour-long walking tour which was available to 15 network attendees. Kabosh devised a theatrical piece to disseminate the findings of the network and this was the first element of working out the form this will take. As a result of network engagement, Kabosh also commissioned a piece of theatre, 'Reunion', which explores the impact of domestic violence on older women in the post-conflict context of Northern Ireland. |
| Impact | History, Art, Museum Curation, Drama, Dance. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Knowing the North?: How we know and interpret the past: Cross-disciplinary approaches to dealing with difficult, recent pasts in the North of Ireland. |
| Organisation | University College Cork |
| Country | Ireland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The project is being led by Prof Laura McAtackney (University College Cork) in collaboration with Prof Patricia Lundy (Ulster University) and Prof Roisín Higgins (Maynooth University). The project has two key aims - (1) to facilitate collaborative and innovative cross-disciplinary explorations of what it is to 'know the past' in the North and (2) to critically explore the potential and limitations of various sources in creating and skewing our knowledge claims co-produced with stakeholder representatives. In working through these two overarching aims, the project will engage with two interconnected themes: (1) Gendering Experiences of Conflict (2) Institutions and Institutional Abuse. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This project is funded by University College Cork as part of its Collective Social Futures Interdisciplinary Research Fund. |
| Impact | This is a collaboration which includes: Archaeology, History and Sociology. The work will be co-created with victims and survivors and advocacy groups of conflict-related and institutional abuse throughout Ireland. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Networking Event (Queen's University Belfast) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This final event of the network brought together participants from previous network events to engage in short, filmed conversations about what issues and ideas the network has raised. After the filming, participants - including members of the core group - had a discussion about the main findings and how we would like to proceed in the future. It was agreed that we would establish two groups: one to oversee a publication related to the network and the other to oversee a creative output which will bring together work from several network members. It was also agreed that Roisín Higgins and Cahal McLaughlin would oversee the design of a website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://sensingconflictnetwork.com/ |
| Description | Networking Event in the Ulster Museum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The focus of this session, hosted by the Ulster Museum, was on personal memories and story telling. It brought together curators from Belfast, Dublin and London to discuss the process of representing difficult subjects in Ireland's recent past. In response to assessors' feedback to the funding application we brought together museum curators: Karen Logan from National Museums NI, Brenda Malone from the National Museum of Ireland and Craig Murray from the Imperial War Museum in London (which had recently curated its first Troubles exhibition). The afternoon session brought together a group of extraordinary storytellers who have found ways to represent intimate, compelling and conflicted lives, each with a singular and significant voice: Wendy Erskine (writer); Gail McConnell (poet); Melatu-Uche Okorie (writer); Emilie Pine (writer). This afternoon session was spell-binding and it was genuinely a privilege to be party to this discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Networking Event: Representing Conflict |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a day-long event in Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. The aim was to bring together curators and arts practitioners to explore the role of museums and the visual arts in representing experiences of conflict and trauma. Speakers included those who had experienced different conflicts and worked in a range of media. The day of events included a panel of experts who discussed curatorial and creative approaches to representing conflict. The panel consisted of Allan Hughes (artist), Karen Logan (Senior Curator, Ulster Museum), Saud Baloch (sculptor) and Pippa Oldfield (photography historian and curator). This event was open to the public and attracted a small but expert audience and the discussion was incredibly rich and multi-faceted. An afternoon masterclass was run by Avni Sethi, the Director of the ground-breaking Conflictorium, based in Ahmedabad, which has created a multi-disciplinary space 'in-between' the binaries of conflicted identities, and between conflict and peace. The day concluded with a screening of the film 'No More' and Q&A with its maker, Mairéad McClean. This was a very successful day of events due to the range, talent and synergies of the attendees. The masterclass with Avni Sethi was particularly important, instructive and inspirational and will undoubtedly change the practice of all who were there. Asked what they had learned from the event, one participant wrote, 'Commonality across subject matter and concerns. That the individual experience could be understood by a group of people, all from different countries/lived experience. ... That the felt/body experience is where the seat of knowledge resides and were understanding begins.' A curator who attended the event wrote, 'I found the range of approaches really valuable, such different perspectives and some useful contacts. I learned about a variety of projects and found Pippa's section particularly useful and the Conflictorium inspiring.' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Networking Event: Telling Different Stories of Conflict: The Troubles |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This networking event included several sections including a panel discussion with Prof Marianne Elliott (Liverpool University), Claire Hackett (Dúchas Oral History Archive), Kim Mawhinney (Ulster Museum), Cate Turner (Healing Through Remembering). Along with an engaged and informed audience they discussed the process of writing histories of the Northern Irish Troubles. Speakers reflected upon their experiences of writing and recording the recent past and the aim was to bring together experts working inside and outside universities to discuss how we might write histories differently. The event was available to participants online and in person. The panel discussion attracted those who work in the heritage sector, archives and theatre, as well as postgraduates and early-career researchers. The day also included a masterclass by Prof Cahal McLaughlin which outlined the process of co-creating a film memory archive and this was of particular interest to early-career researchers who asked lots of questions about ethics, inclusivity and co-ownership of material. The masterclass was available online and was attended by an international audience. A public lecture was given by Prof Graham Dawson which looked at sensory elements in oral history testimonies and how this approach might help us to better understand the emigrant experience. This attracted an online and in-person audience which was primarily academic in make-up. The feedback for this day of events was extremely positive. The network has tapped into a particular moment in the history of the Troubles in which there is a clear need for new thinking on how to collect and interpret the recent past in a way that is genuinely multi-disciplinary and imaginative. Several participants talked about the importance in their work of 'opening up a space' for conversation and reflection, and the significance of this event was that it opened up a space for multi-disciplinary academics, practitioners and community activists to reflect about what they have learnt (for example during the recent 'Decade of Centenaries') and how we might build a more complex understanding of the experiences and legacy of conflict and trauma. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Networking event in Museum of Free Derry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was the third of our networking events and the focus was on the architecture of conflict. We began with a guided walk around the historic walls of Derry, ending in the Museum of Free Derry on the site of Bloody Sunday 1972. The Museum hosted our discussion which was open to the public. The day included presentations and discussion from James Craig (Architecture, Newcastle University); Killian O' Dochartaigh (Architecture, University of Edinburgh) and Louise Purbrick (Royal College of Art) who looked at space and environment, nationally and internationally. Mimi Unamoya (BOMOKO - Northern Ireland Refugees & Asylum Seekers Women Association), Anne Crilly (film-maker) and Laurence McKeown (author and playwright) discussed their own experiences of living within the architectures of conflict in terms of security systems, incarceration and refugee accommodation. Paula McFetridge from Kabosh Theatre Company delivered a masterclass in community-focused, site-specific theatre. This was a day of deeply rich discussion which continued to expand our conversation beyond the conflict in Northern Ireland and also continued to develop thoughts on how to capture and represent the complexity of these experiences. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |