Motherhood during and after ‘the Troubles’: the family as a space of everyday life peacebuilding

This study explores motherhood during and after ‘the Northern Ireland Troubles’ through the voices of mothers who had lived through the conflict in areas that bore the brunt of violence and risks. It examines how mothers maintained everyday family lives in the worst of conditions by minimising risks posed to their family members, particularly their children, and questions what norms, values and morals underpinned their mothering practices.

Through qualitative sociological research primarily resting on in-depth life history interviews with 28 mothers who had lived through the conflict, the study considers how women's taken-for-granted gendered roles in the family sphere may impact on conflict and peace processes, as well as how conflict and peace change motherhood experiences. Drawing on the idea of everyday life peacebuilding, the study discusses how the family is located in the processes of social transformation in conflict-affected societies and illuminates that mothers play central yet unacknowledged roles in maintaining and restoring sociability in a conflict-affected society.