Lepp, E. (2022 - in press). “Civil Sanctuary: clearly marked spaces of civility in divided urban settings.” Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding: online first. DOI:10.1080/17502977.2022.2079341 Abstract Movement through spaces defined by segregation and mixing are a distinguishing feature of divided urban settings. Contributing to themes of the everyday and spatial understandings in peace research, this paper introduces civil sanctuaries. In divided urban settings these spaces of sanctuary are framed by civility, where people encounter one another across division while seemingly compartmentalising outward signs of disrespect. Through a case study of the Belfast Giants and SSE Arena, this paper highlights clearly marked territory which differentiates itself from divisive norms and rhetoric, filtering who is welcome, and the notion of giving pause to routinised practices in divided settings.
Lepp, E. (2022). “A side-by-side methodological approach: Shared experience, informality and adaptation.”Qualitative Research: online first. DOI: 10.1080/15423166.2018.1427135 *** open access Abstract In shifting environments common to peace and conflict research, methodological grounding is rooted in the fluctuating roles undertaken by the researcher through time and space as one seeks a worldview that is experienced by research participants. This article introduces a side-by-side methodological approach, which developed through research of cross-community interaction amongst ice hockey supporters in Belfast. Influenced by qualitative research that sought to access local voices, this article moves from conceptual guidance and planning into the stands of the SSE Arena, where interviews were conducted with the person in the seat beside the researcher during ice hockey games. In doing so, this immersive methodology offers a contribution to unearthing unheard voices in this oft-studied region through the opportunity to make connection that was unscripted, aided by the informality of the research setting and the limited face-to-face interaction.
Vogel, B., Arthur. C., Lepp, E. O’Driscoll, D. and Haworth, B.T. (2020). “Reading social-political and spatial experiences through street art in conflict-affected societies.” Third World Quarterly 41 (12): 2148-2168. DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2020.1810009 Abstract This paper argues that graffiti can provide a form of socio-political commentary at the local level, and is a valuable, yet often overlooked, resource for scholars and policymakers in conflict-affected societies. Graffiti, in its many forms, can provide rich insight into societies, cultures, social issues, trends, political discourse, and spatial and territorial identities and claims. Thus, this, paper suggests that graffiti is a valuable source of knowledge in societies undergoing social and political transformation, to hear the voices of those often left out from the official discourses. Despite advances in the field of arts and international relations and the focus on the local and the everyday, peace and conflict scholarship and policy still lack systematic engagement with arts-based contributions and how to read them. The paper attempts to address this gap by outlining four core dimensions to consider when attempting to interpret and decode graffiti: the spatial, temporal, political economic and representative dimensions. This can also be viewed as an inquiry into the where, when, who and what. These four elements make up an analytical guide and enable scholars to better understand graffiti, and its political meaning and messaging.
Lepp, E. (2018). “Division on Ice: Shared Space and Civility in Modern Belfast” Journal of Peacebuilding and Development 13 (1): 32-45. DOI: 10.1080/15423166.2018.1427135 Abstract In Northern Ireland the Good Friday Agreement brought with it top-down political and social approaches to construct and increase intergroup contact and shared spaces in an effort to reconcile divided Nationalist and Unionist communities. In the period following the peace agreement, the Belfast Giants ice hockey team was established, and its games have become one of the most attended spectator activities in Belfast, trending away from the tribalism, single-space, single-class, and single-gender dynamics of modern sport in Northern Ireland. This article utilises the setting of the Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) Arena, home of the Giants, to demonstrate normalisation of interactions occurring between supporters who are willing to purchase a ticket beside someone to whom they are politically opposed. This sport and its supporters choose to enjoy the experience of the hockey game, rather than be caught in the politicised attachment of meaning expected of shared space, offering a challenge to the reconciliation-centric assumptions in post-peace agreement Belfast.