Research

RESEARCH STRAND 1

Dr Conor McCabe, author and historian,  has conducted our first piece of  collaborative research into the double transition of  economic and political development in  societies emerging from conflict. Our understanding of the ‘Double Transition’ is:

“Societies in transition from violence to peace or forms of authoritarian rule to more democratic systems also experience an economic transition which has been characterised by a transition from social democratic, corporatist or managed economies to economies run on the broad principles understood as neo-liberal.”

The key tasks of the research were:

• To carry out desk research and conduct a literature review on relevant source materials.
• To identify the tensions of the ‘double transition’ in post conflict societies.
• To reflect on the  extent to which the economic transformation integrates with the democratic, and how does equality, social justice and  labour rights fair in this transition?
• To identify the threats posed by the double transition to political stability and peace in post conflict societies with a focus on N. Ireland.

Dr McCabe has presented the early findings of the research  at the projects’ second national seminar The Betty Sinclair Winter School in late November 2012.

It is evident that the current crisis is providing ample opportunity for this economic transition to be implemented in peaceful states as well as those emerging from conflict.  The school hopes to investigate the impact of this transition on the stability and security of those societies with a focus on:

• Labour rights as human rights
• Austerity and Inequality
• Democracy and alternative futures

PDF of the research: the DoubleTransition