Summary
Political transitions from conflict to peace tend to be seen through temporal and socio-political frames that are essentially linear and diachronic. In these understandings, ‘peace’ is treated as an end-state – one towards which a society or groups are progressing or regressing. This object can be endangered through exclusionary electoral or legislative practices or through the residual presence of spoiler groups or ideas. Alternatively, it can be encouraged through pluralization of the political sphere, acceptance and promotion of liberal democratic norms and the bestowing of recognition by the international community.
Specifically, the project asks how activists work to (re)produce Northern Ireland’s historical and traditional left-wing scepticism about ethno-nationalist norms and ideologies. This activism, which has arguably flourished in the past decade, includes trade unionism, grassroots pressure groups and outsider political parties and movements such as Peop
Doctoral College
Summary
The United Kingdom and its overseas territories are a central conduit for the facilitation, and initiation of grand corruption schemes. Its financial sector is a nodal point for money laundering, its offshore territories are a conduit for secrecy and tax evasion, its service industry construct the conduits for warehousing illicit funds, its legal sector dilutes civic and public accountability, and its reputation launderers help clean the images of oligarchs, kleptocrats and organised criminals.
In addition to being a hub for facilitation services, the United Kingdom is a jurisdiction where traditional and emerging forms of grand corruption take place. Examples include the increasingly significant role of dark money in national political life, incidences of systemic cronyism (explicitly witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic), and state capture in the taxation arena by a professional services class that are instrumental in facilitating grand-scale tax avoid