Conflict in cities and the contested state: Everyday life and the possibilities for transformation in Belfast, Jerusalem and other divided cities

Pullan, Wendy (2017). Conflict in cities and the contested state: Everyday life and the possibilities for transformation in Belfast, Jerusalem and other divided cities. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: Economic and Social Research Council. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-850896

Data description (abstract)

'Conflict in Cities and the Contested State' is a five year project starting in 2007 that focuses on divided cities as key sites in territorial conflicts over state and national identities, cultures and borders. The objectives are to analyse how such cities in Europe and the Middle East have been shaped by ethnic, religious and national conflicts, and conversely, how such cities absorb, resist and potentially play a role in transforming the conflicts which pervade and surround them.
The main sites for in situ research are Belfast and Jerusalem. Researchers from three UK universities - Cambridge, Exeter and Queen's Belfast - will lead the multi-disciplinary initiative that includes:

architecture
urban studies
politics
geography
sociology

The teams will reflect the divisions being researched. Six PhD students will be attached to the programme and, in conjunction with an international network of academics and practitioners, will study other divided cities, such as Nicosia, Mostar, Berlin, Brussels, Beirut and Kirkuk. Within this overall project framework a contextual and comparative approach will be developed to explore wider issues of urban conflict and the possibilities for resolution.
Conflict in Cities and the Contested State builds on an earlier ESRC project begun in 2003.
Further information
Conflict in Cities and the Contested State contact: Dr Wendy Pullan. Website: www.conflictincities.org

Data creators:

Creator Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Pullan Wendy	University of Cambridge

Contributors:

Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Dumper Michael
O'Dowd Liam
Anderson James
O'Dowd Liam

Sponsors:

Economic and Social Research Council

Grant reference:

RES-060-25-0015

Topic classification:

Social stratification and groupings
Society and culture

Date published:

15 May 2013 12:01

Last modified:

12 Jul 2017 11:15

Coverage and Methodology

Access and Administration

Data sourcing, processing and preparation:

Copyright has been sought when publishing non-project materials. Alternatively materials out of copyright have been used. Written published material has been appropriately referenced in project outputs. The nature of this project is the study of urban conflict. Residents of the cities researched can easily be put into a compromising situation and Conflict in Cities has endeavoured to protect everyone who has participated in the project. No printed consent forms were used (although, in Belfast Information Sheets were given to interviewees (see example attached) and consent was audio recorded). No explicit consent was elicited by any of the participating researchers to archive or share data. We felt strongly, owing to the sensitivity of the political situation in these cities that if we asked respondents to agree to making interview transcripts available to a third party it would have precluded co-operation on their part. To make the data available to the UK Data Archive at this stage could jeopardise future research relationships. We have serious concerns regarding anonymity. We feel our attempts to anonymise interview transcripts can only have limited success since individual identities are inextricably weaved into the narrative data through events and places discussed. This is particularly the case with our interviews with members of the advisory bodies of our regeneration case studies. The composition of such advisory bodies has been publicised through the online sites of government departments and of voluntary networks in Northern Ireland. In the case of interviews with public figures guessing the identity of individual interviewees, (anonymisation through removal of identifiers in transcripts notwithstanding), would be easily done by anyone who is familiar with the actors involved in the theme being discussed. Similar concerns apply to interviews with clerics and faith-based organisations where the discussion of specific events is a clear indicator of identity. Any reasonable attempt at anonymising all of the above types of interview transcripts will, in addition to having only limited success, require a substantial amount of time and effort. Photographs and film: These have been purposefully taken by project members as both part of the process of research and as a completed product of research intended for publication. These photographs and film are in use now and will be for the foreseeable future. They form a resource to be used for publication by the members of the project. Some of these photographs are for architectural survey purposes, others are intended to form the basis for selection for publication. We do not consider the latter to be raw data. Not all photographs or film will be published. There are ethical and legal considerations for photographs where individuals are clearly identifiable in situations where they could reasonably expect privacy. In all cases where young people under the age of 16 are concerned, consent of the parent/guardian is required before putting the image in the public domain. A large number of project photographs clearly depict individuals but were taken in situations where obtaining consent would have been difficult. All photographs and film are copyrighted to Conflict in Cities. I) No written consent was given in line with the project’s approved ethics framework. No written consent was given for photographs that clearly depict individuals whose consent would be required. II) Names and personal details will be removed however, in these contentious cities, some individuals will be recognisable unless very heavy anonymisaton is undertaken.

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