The role of the church in the highly charged issue of peace in Northern Ireland is the focus of a new research project at the University of Aberdeen.
Professor John Brewer, Head of the Department of Sociology at the University, has been awarded almost £124,000 to explore religion as a means of gaining harmony in the contentious path towards peace in Northern Ireland.
Along with colleagues Professor Steve Bruce, Head of the School of Social Sciences, and Dr Francis Teeney, Honorary Research Fellow in Sociology, at Aberdeen, Professor Brewer will focus his research on religion as a reconciliation tool.
Professor Brewer said: “Even though the fighting is not about religion, but about the legitimacy of the state, the church is the form through which the conflict is experienced.
“Some churches and para-church organisations have tried to obstruct reconciliation and some have used religion as a resource to mobilise against peace, but it is part of folklore that some key churchmen and women have been hugely instrumental to the peace process.”
The research will be conducted through a variety of methods including in-depth interviews with churches and para-church organisations, politicians and parliamentary groups, and peace activists. Northern Ireland will be used as a case study to explore the role of society in political transformation, and to look at the ways in which social conflict is experienced through religion.
Professor Brewer added: “The research is intended to have policy relevance to these sorts of situations in ways that enable the church to be a positive agent for peace.”
The two-year study, which began on September 1, is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) - the UK’s leading research funding and training agency addressing economic and social concerns.