Northern Ireland: Living with the Crisis

(Hardback)

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In this book, Alan Ward has collected contributions from education, psychology, law, political science, religion, literature, and poetry in order to examine the life and mind of a community in crisis. Much has been written about the causes of conflict in Northern Ireland. Little has been said on the conflict's impact on the community. This book fills the gap by addressing not only the way violence affects daily life by also it's influence on art and culture.

Reviews

The ten essays in this collection were originally papers read at a conference on Northern Ireland: The Mind of a Community in Crisis, ' held at William and Mary in 1984. Organized around three themes--the impact of the troubles on culture, churches, and the structure of society--the essays are a welcome change from the flow of books concentrating on either terrorism or counterinsurgency in northern Ireland. They also point to a reality more complex than the usual picture of a polarized, violence-torn society. One essay argues persuasively that there is little reason to believe that nearly 20 years of violence has substantially worsened northern Ireland's economy (although it was in poor shape to start with). Another points out that psychological trauma is much less widespread than is often stated. The functioning of the legal system gets qualified praise; the churches, qualified criticism. The arts seem to be in a surprisingly flourishing state. In general, these essays are a useful reminder that a concentration on the security problems of northern Ireland can be misleading. University libraries.-Choice
"The ten essays in this collection were originally papers read at a conference on Northern Ireland: The Mind of a Community in Crisis, ' held at William and Mary in 1984. Organized around three themes--the impact of the troubles on culture, churches, and the structure of society--the essays are a welcome change from the flow of books concentrating on either terrorism or counterinsurgency in northern Ireland. They also point to a reality more complex than the usual picture of a polarized, violence-torn society. One essay argues persuasively that there is little reason to believe that nearly 20 years of violence has substantially worsened northern Ireland's economy (although it was in poor shape to start with). Another points out that psychological trauma is much less widespread than is often stated. The functioning of the legal system gets qualified praise; the churches, qualified criticism. The arts seem to be in a surprisingly flourishing state. In general, these essays are a useful reminder that a concentration on the security problems of northern Ireland can be misleading. University libraries."-Choice

Author Bio

ALAN J.WARD is Professor of Government at the College of William and Mary and is also a past president of the American Committee for Irish Studies.