A master thesis from Aalborg University
Troublemakers and Troublebreakers: An Ethnographic Study of the Shankill Road Community
Author(s)
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2022
Submitted on
2022-05-30
Pages
132 pages
Abstract
This thesis examines how the surrounding environment, traumas and hope shape the Loyalist working-class area of the Shankill community in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Shankill is a working-class area just outside the city centre, notorious for violence during the country’s conflict, The Troubles. Data was gathered during ethnographic fieldwork in Spring 2022. The Shankill community is shaped in various ways: leftovers from The Troubles are particularly formative as the Peace Walls segregate the Protestant community from its Catholic neighbours with consequences that are deeply ingrained in its identity. This thesis investigates the material aspect of the Shankill and how it is formative of the community through the lens of place identity theory. The existence of hope in the adverse setting of the Shankill is investigated as a motivation to understand the actions of the younger generation of the community in the present for an uncertain future. It is concluded that the Shankill community is formed by physical and psychological remnants of its past as it struggles to deal with these issues in adverse circumstances in order to create its future.
Documents
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