| Trajectories of Conflict and Peace: Jerusalem and Belfast Since 1994 Subjects: Area Studies; Built Environment; Geography; Humanities; Politics & International Relations; Social Sciences; Urban Studies; European Studies; Middle East Studies; European Politics; International Politics; International Relations; Political Theory; Urban Politics; Planning; Human Geography; History; Religion; Military & Strategic Studies; Sociology & Social Policy; Planning History; Planning Theory; Spatial and Regional Planning; Planning - Human Geography; Irish History; Urban Sociology; Religion in Context; Security Studies - Military & Strategic; Creating peace for a city's intimate enemies is harder than making war. This book is about the trajectories of urban conflict and peace in the politically polarized cities of Jerusalem and Belfast since 1994 - how sometimes there has been hopeful change while at other times debilitating stasis and regression. Based on extensive research, fieldwork, and interviews, Scott Bollens shows how seeking peace in these cities is shaped by the interaction of city-based actors and national elites, and that it is not just a political process, but a social and spatial one that takes place problematically over an extended period. He intertwines academic precision with ethnography and personal narrative to illuminate the complex political and emotional kaleidoscopes of these polarized cities. With hostility and competition among groups defined by ethnic, religious, and nationalistic identity on the increase across the world, this timely investigation contributes to our understanding of today's fractured cities and nations. Scott A. Bollens is Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy and holds the Warmington Chair in Peace and International Cooperation at the University of California, Irvine, USA. |