Unionist Voices and the Politics of Remembering the Past in Northern Ireland [Hardcover]

Simpson offers a reflective and theoretical explanation of the ways in which unionists conceive of the past in the present post-conflict environment. He considers the ways in which scholarly literature has often painted an outdated and inaccurate portrait of a highly complex people.Thematic Introduction and Background to the Northern Ireland Conflict Unionists, Memory and Subjectivist Constructions of the Political 'Other' Recalling the Adjustment to Political Violence Unionist Remembrance of Political Violence and Suffering in Northern Ireland The Disappearance of Unionist Storytelling and the Conflict Truth Recovery, Unionists and Social Memory Conclusion: Mastering the Past in Northern Ireland

'How Northern Ireland deals with its past is a major issue for Northern Ireland's future. So this book could not be more important. It is written with passion but without partisanship, with academic rigour but without pedantry. The result is a powerful yet sensitive evocation of Unionist anxieties and historical sensitivities, disturbing but always moving.' - Arthur Aughey, Professor of Politics, University of Ulster, UK

KIRK SIMPSON is RCUK Post Doctoral Fellow at the Transitional Justice Institute, University of Ulster, UK. He has written extensively in prestigious academic journals on truth recovery, victims of political violence and unionists in Northern Ireland. He is also the author of the book Truth Recovery in Northern Ireland: Critically Interpreting the Past.