A sociology lecturer at Robert Gordon University (RGU) has shed light on the results of a research project which charted the impact of peace processes in post conflict societies around the world, including Northern Ireland and South Africa.
Before joining RGU, Dr Natascha Mueller-Hirth from RGU’s School of Applied Social Studies worked as a Research Fellow for the ‘Compromise after Conflict’ research programme between 2010 and 2015.
Led by Professor John Brewer, from the University of Aberdeen and now Queen’s University Belfast, the project was funded by research programme grant of £1.26m from the Leverhulme Trust.
Working at the University of Aberdeen's Institute for Conflict, Transition, and Peace Research (ICTPR), Dr Mueller-Hirth was responsible for the South African part of the research.
This involved interviewing staff who worked on the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and people who had been victims of human rights violations during the Apartheid era.
This included people who had been tortured as political prisoners, or been shot at by apartheid police, or relatives of those who were killed or tortured by the Apartheid state.
Dr Mueller-Hirth, who is an experienced South Africa researcher, interviewed 40 people for the study and asked them about their experiences and victim identity as well as their understanding of compromise.
She said: “Given how conflicts and civil wars continue around the world, this research shines some light on what happens after the fighting stops, and how people can live together peacefully after the formal ending of war or violence.
“In South Africa, while political freedom was clearly achieved, economic freedom is still a long way away for many of the people I interviewed.
“Although the system is now a completely different one, their lives haven’t changed very much, they still live in the same shacks, in the same townships, with poor infrastructure, little money, and few hopes for the future.”
Professor John Brewer from the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University Belfast was the Principal Investigator for the project which explored the development and practice of compromise amongst victims of conflict in Sri Lanka, South Africa and Northern Ireland, using interviews with victims and surveys of the general population.
Professor Brewer said: “This has been one of the most worthwhile projects I have ever led and has had a real impact on the way we understand victims and the feelings of compromise and tolerance.
“Victims are often moral beacons shining a light on how the rest of us should show tolerance and empathy towards others.”
Results from the study have been used to develop an interactive online archive which was designed for use in schools, youth clubs, churches, victims groups and other civil society groups as a way of working through victims’ issues.
The project also has its own book series with Palgrave-Macmillan entitled: Palgrave Studies in Compromise after Conflict, which is unique in addressing the socio-cultural aspects of reconciliation rather than the political.
Two of the PhD students funded from the programme have books in the series and the results from Dr Mueller-Hirth’s work will appear there too.
Dr Mueller-Hirth said: “It was a real privilege for me to hear people’s stories and memories, and be welcomed into their houses. Without their openness it would not have been possible to complete the project.
“I also got a glimpse of how challenging many peoples’ lives were all these years after the end of Apartheid, and how traumatised some of them still are about their past experiences, and the struggles they continue to face in the ‘new’ South Africa.”
For more information about the Compromise after Conflict research programme, please visit: http://compromiseafterconflict.org