Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Representing the Experience of War and Atrocity pp 227–251Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Competing to Control the Post-conflict Present: Articulating Victimhood in Exhibitions in Northern Ireland

  • 373 Accesses

Part of the Palgrave Studies in Crime, Media and Culture book series (PSCMC)

Abstract

The author focuses on museum exhibitions. He examines two exhibitions displaying episodes of violence and atrocity from the conflict in Northern Ireland (1968–1998), euphemistically referred to as ‘the Troubles’. The exhibitions considered are the Irish Republican History Museum and the Police Museum, both of which are located in Belfast. Jackson pays attention to how victimhood is articulated in these exhibitions, and the implications of this in terms of how the conflict is encountered and understood by visitors. His analysis locates both museums within the much broader ‘struggle’ over the past in Northern Ireland where, in the absence of consensus around the conflict, a range of actors compete to establish their understanding of the past as the dominant version.

Keywords

  • Conflict
  • Victimhood
  • The troubles
  • Northern ireland
  • Museum exhibitions
  • Contested history

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Among republican and loyalists, the prison is known as Long Kesh (or simply ‘the Kesh’) whereas its official name is HMP Maze.

  2. 2.

    At the time of writing, Northern Ireland has been without devolved government since January 2017 when then Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness resigned triggering an election. Despite elections in March 2017, the Assembly has not met due to significant divisions between the two main parties, the DUP and Sinn Féin.

  3. 3.

    Rubber bullets are rubber or rubber-coated projectiles that can be fired from both standard firearms or specialised riot weapons and are intended as a non-lethal alternative to conventional metal bullets. They were first used in Northern Ireland in 1970 and were replaced by plastic bullets in the mid-1970s.

References

(Without Author)

(With Author)

  • Breen-Smyth, M. (2009). Hierarchies of Pain and Responsibility: Victims and War by Other Means in Northern Ireland. Trípodos, 25, 27–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • CAIN. (2018). Ulster University. Accessed April 1, 2017. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/tables/Organisation_Responsible.html.

  • Cochrane, F. (2015). The Paradox of Conflict Tourism: The Commodification of War or Conflict Transformation in Practice. The Brown Journal of World Affairs, 22(1), 51–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coiste nan-larchimí. (2003). A Museum at Long Kesh or the Maze? Report of Conference Proceedings. Belfast: Coiste na n-larchimí.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crooke, E. (2010). The Politics of Community Heritage: Motivations, Authority and Control. In E. Waterton & S. Watson (Eds.), Heritage and Community Engagement: Collaboration or Contestation? (pp. 24–37). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edkins, J. (2003). Trauma and the Memory of Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, A. (2017). Beating the Retreat on a Contested Past? The British Army and the Politics of Commemoration in Northern Ireland. In J. Smyth (Ed.), Remembering the Troubles: Contesting the Recent Past in Northern Ireland (pp. 77–95). Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flynn, M. K. (2011). Decision-Making and Contested Heritage in Northern Ireland: The Former Maze Prison/Long Kesh. Irish Political Studies, 26(3), 383–401.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Graff-McRea, R. L. (2009). Popular Memory in Northern Ireland. In M. Keren & H. H. Herwig (Eds.), War Memory and Popular Culture: Essays on Modes of Remembrance and Commemoration (pp. 41–56). Jefferson: McFarland and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S. (2007). Demodernizing by Design: Everyday Infrastructure and Political Violence. In D. Gregory & A. Pred (Eds.), Violent Geographies: Fear, Terror, and Political Violence (pp. 309–328). London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, B., & McDowell, S. (2007). Meaning in the Maze: The Heritage of Long Kesh. Cultural Geographies, 14(3) (2007), 343–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, S. (2014). Sinn Féin, the Past and Political Strategy: The Provisional Irish Republican Movement and the Politics of ‘Reconciliation’. Irish Political Studies, 30(1), 79–97.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, S. (2017). The Irish Republican Movement and the Contested Past: ‘Official Memory’ and the Politics of Dissent. In M. Corporaal, C. Cusack, & R. Van den Beuken (Eds.), Irish Studies and the Dynamics of Memory: Transitions and Transformations (pp. 149–168). Bern: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurley-Depret, M. (2006). “Troubles Tourism”: Debating History and Voyeurism in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In P. Scranton & J. F. Davidson (Eds.), The Business of Tourism: Place, Faith, and History (pp. 137–162). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, M. (2016, October 12). Communication with Neil Simpson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, M. (2017, July 17). Communication with Johnny Haddock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawther, C. (2010). ‘Securing’ the Past: Policing and the Contest over Truth in Northern Ireland. British Journal of Criminology, 50(3), 454–473.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Lawther, C. (2015). The Construction and Politicisation of Victimhood. In O. Lynch & J. Argomaniz (Eds.), Victims of Terrorism: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Study (pp. 10–30). London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lundy, P., & McGovern, M. (2008). Truth, Justice and Dealing with the Legacy of the Past in Northern Ireland, 1998–2008. Ethnopolitics, 7(1), 177–193.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald, S. (1998). Exhibitions of Power and Powers of Exhibition: An Introduction to the Politics of Display. In S. Macdonald (Ed.), The Politics of Display: Museums, Science, Culture (pp. 1–24). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald, S. (2009). Difficult Heritage: Negotiating the Nazi Past in Nuremburg. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAtackney, L. (2014). An Archaeology of the Troubles: The Dark Heritage of Long Kesh/Maze Prison. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • McBride, I. (2016). The Truth About the Troubles. In J. Smyth (Ed.), Remembering the Troubles: Contesting the Recent Past in Northern Ireland (pp. 9–43). Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, S. (2007). Armalite, the Ballot Box and Memorialization: Sinn Féin and the State in Post-conflict Northern Ireland. The Round Table, 96(393), 725–738.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, S. (2008a). Commemorating Dead ‘Men’: Gendering the Past and Present in Post-conflict Northern Ireland. Gender, Place & Culture, 15(4), 335–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, S. (2008b). Selling Conflict Heritage Through Tourism in Peacetime Northern Ireland: Transforming Conflict or Exacerbating Difference? International Journal of Heritage Studies, 14(5), 405–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, S. (2009). Negotiating Places of Pain in Post-conflict Northern Ireland: Debating the Future of the Maze Prison/Long Kesh. In W. Logan & K. Reeves (Eds.), Places of Pain and Shame: Dealing with ‘Difficult Heritage’ (pp. 215–230). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKittrick, D. (1999). Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children Who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulcahy, A. (2000). Policing History: The Official Discourse and Organisational Memory of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. British Journal of Criminology, 40(1), 68–87.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, J., Dowell, S., & Braniff, M. (2016). Historical Dialogue and Memory in Policing Change: The Case of the Police in Northern Ireland. Memory Studies, 10(4), 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • NI Assembly. (2009). Accessed March 30, 2017. http://archive.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports2008/090511.html.

  • Nolan, P. (2014). Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report Number 3. Belfast: Community Relations Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novick, P. (1999). The Holocaust in American Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novick, P. (2001). The Holocaust and Collective Memory. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • PSNI. (2017). Accessed April 12, 2017. https://www.psni.police.uk/inside-psni/our-history/police-museum.

  • Purbrick, L. (2011). The Last Murals of Long Kesh: Fragments of Political Imprisonment at the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland. In A. Myers & G. Moshenska (Eds.), Archaeologies of Internment (pp. 263–284). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolston, R. (2000). Unfinished Business: State Killings and the Quest for Truth. Belfast: Beyond the Pale Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, J. (2016). Interpreting Difficult History at Museums and Historic Sites. London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Switzer, C., & Graham, B. (2009). ‘From Thorn to Thorn’: Commemorating the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland. Social & Cultural Geography 10(2), 153–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tonge, J. (1998). Northern Ireland: Conflict and Change. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trip Advisor. (2015). Accessed June 28, 2016. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186470-d212486-Reviews-RUC_Museum-Belfast_Northern_Ireland.html.

  • TripAdvisor. (2016). Accessed October 1, 2017.  https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186470-d3535635-Reviews-or10-Irish_Republican_History_Museum-Belfast_Northern_Ireland.html.

  • TripAdvisor. (2017). Accessed October 1, 2017. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186470-d3535635-r215721007-Irish_Republican_History_Museum-Belfast_Northern_Ireland.html#REVIEWS.

  • Ulster Unionist Party. (2018). Accessed September 24, 2018. https://uup.org/news/5731/Everyone-should-be-under-no-illusions-of-the-lasting-negative-impact-these-legacy-proposals-will-have-if-they-are-allowed-to-go-ahead-Swann#.W6FA1P62nVo.

  • Whelan, P. (2007, February 8). Museum: Vision of Eileen Hickey Realized. An Phoblacht. Available at http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/16402. Accessed February 18, 2016.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

    Matthew Jackson

Authors
  1. Matthew Jackson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew Jackson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Keele University , Keele, UK

    Prof. Ronnie Lippens

  2. Liverpool John Moores University , Liverpool, UK

    Dr. Emma Murray

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Jackson, M. (2019). Competing to Control the Post-conflict Present: Articulating Victimhood in Exhibitions in Northern Ireland. In: Lippens, R., Murray, E. (eds) Representing the Experience of War and Atrocity. Palgrave Studies in Crime, Media and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13925-4_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13925-4_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-13924-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13925-4

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

search

Navigation