Dominic Bryan

Queen's University Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, Faculty Member

Followers

108

Following

Co-authors

Public Views

I am a political anthropologist specializing in explorations of symbols and rituals particularly with reference to ethnic identities. I have mainly worked in Ireland aon conflict transformation and policies of peace building.

less

Molly Hurley-Depret

John Nagle

Queen's University Belfast

Irene Ketonen-Keating

University at Buffalo, State University of New York

Rosellen Roche

Queen's University Belfast

Landon Hancock

Kent State University

Katherine Side

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Cathal McCall

Queen's University Belfast

Ray Casserly

Laura McAtackney

Aarhus University

Brian Dougherty

University of Ulster

Uploads

Papers by Dominic Bryan

Guest Editorial: At the Edge of the Union

Anthropology In Action, 2006

Download

Belfast Pathways: Space-Time Analysis of Every Day Activities in a Segregated Environment

The residents of North Belfast live in a highly segregated environment – one in which ‘nationalis... more The residents of North Belfast live in a highly segregated environment – one in which ‘nationalist’ and ‘loyalist’ communities exist in close proximity yet use very different spaces for their everyday activities. This paper describes how GPS tracking of residents in North Belfast is being used to build up a detailed spatio-temporal picture of how these spaces are being used. This will ultimately help the city council decide which spaces need to be opened up to reduce segregation and promote more equitable access to public environments and resources.

Download

‘When the walls come tumbling down’: The role of intergroup proximity, threat, and contact in shaping attitudes towards the removal of Northern Ireland’s peace walls

British Journal of Social Psychology

Institutional structures of segregation typically entrench social inequality and sustain wider pa... more Institutional structures of segregation typically entrench social inequality and sustain wider patterns of intergroup conflict and discrimination. However, initiatives to dismantle such structures may provoke resistance. Executive proposals to dismantle Northern Ireland’s peace walls by 2023 provide a compelling case study of the nature of such resistance and may thus provide important clues about how it might be overcome. Drawing on a field survey conducted in north Belfast (n = 488), this research explored the role of physical proximity, realistic and symbolic threat, and past experiences of positive and negative cross-community contact on Catholic and Protestant residents’ support for removing the walls. Structural equation modelling suggested that both forms of contact and proximity were significantly related to such support and that these relationships were partially mediated by realistic threat. It also suggested that positive contact moderated the effects of proximity. That is, for residents who had more frequent positive interactions with members of the other community, proximity to a peace wall had a weaker relationship with resistance to their removal than residents who had less frequent contact.

From Civil Rights to Carnival

Irish Ethnologies

Networks of (Dis)connection: Mobility Practices, Tertiary Streets, and Sectarian Divisions in North Belfast

Annals of the American Association of Geographers

Long-standing tensions between Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland have led t... more Long-standing tensions between Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland have led to high levels of segregation. This article explores the spaces within which residents of north Belfast move within everyday life and the extent to which these are influenced by segregation. We focus in particular on the role that interconnecting tertiary streets have on patterns of mobility. We adapt Grannis's (1998) concept to define T-communities from sets of interconnecting tertiary streets within north Belfast. These are combined with more than 6,000 Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks collected from local residents to assess the amount of time spent within different spaces. Spaces are divided into areas of residents' own community affiliations (in-group), areas not clearly associated with either community (mixed), or areas of opposing community affiliation (out-group). We further differentiate space as being either within a T-community or along a section of main road. Our work extends research on T-communities by expanding their role beyond exploring residential preference, to explore, instead, networks of (dis)connection through which social divisions are expressed via everyday mobility practices. We conclude that residents are significantly less likely to move within mixed and out-group areas and that this is especially true within T-communities. It is also evident that residents are more likely to travel along out-group sections of a main road if they are in a vehicle and that women show no greater likelihood than men to move within out-group space. Evidence from GPS tracks also provides insights into some areas where mixing appears to occur.

Download

Parallel lives: Intergroup contact, threat, and the segregation of everyday activity spaces

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Although intergroup contact can reduce prejudice, opportunities to experience such contact are of... more Although intergroup contact can reduce prejudice, opportunities to experience such contact are often constrained by systems of segregation. Work on this problem has focused on divisions entrenched within institutions of residence, education and employment. Our research employed a complementary approach, which treated segregation as the outcome of individuals' movements over time within everyday life spaces. Taking as a case study Catholics' and Protestants' use of public environments in north Belfast, we used GPS tracking technology, combined with GIS analytics, to explore the time geography of residents' activity space use over a two-week period (Study 1). We also conducted a field survey to explore how psychological factors shaped their willingness to use activity spaces beyond their own communities (Study 2). Analysis based on around 1000 hours of raw movement data revealed that north Belfast is marked by high levels of segregation, expressed via residents' limited use of public spaces, facilities and pathways located in outgroup areas. However, use of shared spaces is also common, with Catholics spending more time in such spaces than Protestants. Structural equation modelling suggested that residents' self-reported willingness to use activity spaces outside their own communities was associated with both negative and positive intergroup contact-relationships partially mediated by realistic threat, symbolic threat, and anxiety over interaction across sectarian lines. Both kinds of contact and realistic threat were also associated with the time residents actually spent in spaces beyond their own communities. Opportunities for integrating psychological and geographic research on contact and segregation are highlighted.

Download

Negotiating the ground: ‘mobilizing’ a divided field site in the ‘post-conflict’ city

Mobilities

Exploring Segregation and Sharing in Belfast: A PGIS Approach

Annals of the American Association of Geographers

This article presents a novel exploratory investigation into the location and characteristics of ... more This article presents a novel exploratory investigation into the location and characteristics of spaces that are segregated and shared between Protestant and Catholic communities in Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK). Focusing upon a particularly segregated part of the city, this study uses state of the art participatory GIS and visualisation techniques to create qualitative, 'bottom up' maps of segregation and sharing within the city, as experienced by the people who live there. In doing so, it identifies important and previously un-reported patterns in segregation and sharing between sectarian communities, whilst challenging normative approaches to participatory GIS, illustrating how alternative methods might provide deeper insights into complex social geographies such as those of segregation. Finally, the findings of this work are formulated into a set of hypotheses that can contribute to a future research agenda into segregation and sharing, both in Belfast and in other divided cities.

Download

Beyond group engagement: Multiple pathways from encounters with the police to cooperation and compliance in Northern Ireland

PLOS ONE

In a sample of young people in Northern Ireland (N = 819), we examine the relationships between t... more In a sample of young people in Northern Ireland (N = 819), we examine the relationships between the quality of experience with police officers and police legitimacy. We examine potential pathways through which experiences may either support or undermine the legitimacy of the police, and thus cooperation and compliance with them. We find evidence that perceptions of the police as having goals that align with those of wider society, and as being fair in general, mediate relations between the quality of encounters and legitimacy, which in turn mediates the relation with cooperation and compliance. Identification with wider society was not a reliable mediator, contrary to our predictions based on the Group Engagement Model. Moreover, our analysis of the structure of police fairness perceptions finds no support for the distinction between procedural and distributive police fairness as usually conceived. Implications for the social psychological understanding of legitimate authority are discussed.

Download

Identity, Social Action and Public Space: Defining Civic Space in Belfast

Theorizing Identities and Social Action, 2009

Green Parades in an Orange State: Nationalist and Republican Commemorations and Demonstrations from Partition to the Troubles, 1920–70

The Irish Parading Tradition, 2000

Introduction: Beyond the divided city: policies and practices of shared space

by Milena Komarova and Dominic Bryan

City, 2014

Orangeism: The Making of a Traditionby Kevin Haddick-Flynn;The Faithful Tribe: An Intimate Portrait of the Loyal Institutionsby Ruth Dudley Edwards

Des droits civils au carnaval : anthropologie de l'espace public à Belfast

Ethnologie française, 2011

... Longtemps, le défilé orangiste du 12 Juillet règne sur la sphère civique [Bryan, 2000, op. ci... more

Interpreting the Twelfth

History Ireland, 1994

Parades, flags, carnivals, and riots: Public space, contestation, and transformation in Northern Ireland

Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 2015

Fanatics, Mobs and Terrorists

FANATICISM AND CONFLICT IN THE MODERN AGE, 1963

Parading Protestants and Consenting Catholics in Northern Ireland: Communal Conflict, Contested Public Space, and Group Rights

Chicago Journal of International Law, Jul 1, 2004

... Bryan Page 8. Chicago Journal of Internalional Law of rioting in Nationalist areas in which D... more

Rituals of Irish Protestantism and Orangeism: The Transnational Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland

... Page 10. 114 Dominic Bryan ... When David Sharrock, a journalist for the Guardian newspaper, ... more

Beyond the Academy: Applying Anthropological Research, A Case Study of Demonstrating Impact in the U.K. 2014 REF

Anthropology in Action, 2015

Guest Editorial: At the Edge of the Union

Anthropology In Action, 2006

Download

Belfast Pathways: Space-Time Analysis of Every Day Activities in a Segregated Environment

Download

‘When the walls come tumbling down’: The role of intergroup proximity, threat, and contact in shaping attitudes towards the removal of Northern Ireland’s peace walls

British Journal of Social Psychology

From Civil Rights to Carnival

Irish Ethnologies

Networks of (Dis)connection: Mobility Practices, Tertiary Streets, and Sectarian Divisions in North Belfast

Annals of the American Association of Geographers

Download

Parallel lives: Intergroup contact, threat, and the segregation of everyday activity spaces

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Download

Negotiating the ground: ‘mobilizing’ a divided field site in the ‘post-conflict’ city

Mobilities

Exploring Segregation and Sharing in Belfast: A PGIS Approach

Annals of the American Association of Geographers

Download

Beyond group engagement: Multiple pathways from encounters with the police to cooperation and compliance in Northern Ireland

PLOS ONE

Download

Identity, Social Action and Public Space: Defining Civic Space in Belfast

Theorizing Identities and Social Action, 2009

Green Parades in an Orange State: Nationalist and Republican Commemorations and Demonstrations from Partition to the Troubles, 1920–70

The Irish Parading Tradition, 2000

Introduction: Beyond the divided city: policies and practices of shared space

by Milena Komarova and Dominic Bryan

City, 2014

Orangeism: The Making of a Traditionby Kevin Haddick-Flynn;The Faithful Tribe: An Intimate Portrait of the Loyal Institutionsby Ruth Dudley Edwards

Des droits civils au carnaval : anthropologie de l'espace public à Belfast

Ethnologie française, 2011

... Longtemps, le défilé orangiste du 12 Juillet règne sur la sphère civique [Bryan, 2000, op. ci... more

Interpreting the Twelfth

History Ireland, 1994

Parades, flags, carnivals, and riots: Public space, contestation, and transformation in Northern Ireland

Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 2015

Fanatics, Mobs and Terrorists

FANATICISM AND CONFLICT IN THE MODERN AGE, 1963

Parading Protestants and Consenting Catholics in Northern Ireland: Communal Conflict, Contested Public Space, and Group Rights

Chicago Journal of International Law, Jul 1, 2004

... Bryan Page 8. Chicago Journal of Internalional Law of rioting in Nationalist areas in which D... more

Rituals of Irish Protestantism and Orangeism: The Transnational Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland

... Page 10. 114 Dominic Bryan ... When David Sharrock, a journalist for the Guardian newspaper, ... more

Beyond the Academy: Applying Anthropological Research, A Case Study of Demonstrating Impact in the U.K. 2014 REF

Anthropology in Action, 2015

Place-identity and urban policy: Sharing leisure spaces in the ‘post-conflict’ city

by John Dixon and Dominic Bryan

Place attachment: Advances in theory, method and applications, 2019

This collection explores how people use language to construct the relation between their self and... more This collection explores how people use language to construct the relation between their self and the location they occupy, or to which they wish to belong. Narrative practice therefore becomes the context and practice through which these participants construct their local identities and their places, both understood as dynamic and in continuous evolution. While the theme of place-identity has been explored especially in a context of migration, the novelty of the volume lies in its investigation of the multiple contexts in which identity is examined; prominence is nonetheless assigned to processes of displacement and uprooting often combined with increased social inequality that make the investigation of ways in which place is discursively constructed and of the roles it plays in processes of self-presentation and identity creation so crucial. The volume adopts a novel interdisciplinary approach making this key reading for researchers in sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, discursive psychology, geography, and linguistic anthropology.

Download

FLAGS: TOWARDS A NEW UNDERSTANDING

This policy report examines the symbolic contests that take place over flags in Northern Ireland.... more This policy report examines the symbolic contests that take place over flags in Northern Ireland. It looks at the background to the use of official flags on local Council buildings and to the flying of flags on lampposts and other 'street furniture' at particular periods of the year. It examines the attitudes by use of a pole from LucidTalk and uses interviews from key individuals. The report looks at policy options including the development of new legislation and the development of local guidelines.

Download

Directory

Dominic Bryan

Uploads

Papers by Dominic Bryan

Log In