在整个二十世纪，北爱尔兰一直是冲突的代名词。自1998年《贝尔法斯特协定》以来，北爱尔兰经历了自20世纪60年代以来前所未有的和平。从冲突到和平，从受冲突影响最大的人——北爱尔兰人民自己——的角度审视冲突是如何以及为什么得到解决的。这本书使用了自1968年以来收集的数十项民意调查，涵盖了社会和政治各个领域的民意变化，包括选举、教育、社区关系和国家认同。
尽管和平，但调查显示，新教徒和天主教徒仍然像以往一样严重分裂。绝大多数人与自己社区的成员结婚，上宗教学校，并与共同的宗教信仰者共度闲暇时间。年轻人在社会和政治行为上与老年人一样存在分歧。如何处理冲突遗留下来的问题几乎和冲突本身一样，也会导致社区分裂。乐观情绪的一个小来源是越来越多的学生进入综合学校，以及对跨宗教融合的支持增加。
《从冲突到和平》使用了一系列前所未有的民意调查来追踪半个世纪以来的这些趋势。这一结果不仅对北爱尔兰的和平进程有影响，而且对其他刚刚摆脱冲突的社会也有影响。北爱尔兰缔造和平的主要教训是，改革政治结构的同时，必须致力于整个社会的社会变革。冲突后的和平需要社会和政治变革。
Conflict to Peace: Politics and Society in Northern Ireland Over Half a Century
Throughout the twentieth century Northern Ireland was a byword for conflict. Since the 1998 Belfast Agreement, Northern Ireland has experienced a level of peace unknown since the 1960s. Conflict to peace examines how and why the conflict was resolved from the perspective of those most affected by it – the people of Northern Ireland themselves. Using dozens of public opinion surveys collected since 1968, the book covers changes in public opinion across all areas of society and politics, including elections, education, community relations and national identity.
Despite peace, the surveys show that Protestants and Catholics remain as deeply divided as ever. The vast majority marry members of their own community, attend religious schools and spend their leisure time with their co-religionists. The young are as divided as the old in their social and political behaviour. How to deal with the legacy of the conflict divides the communities almost as much as the conflict itself. Small sources of optimism are the growing number of pupils attending integrated schools, and increases in support for mixing across religious boundaries.
Conflict to peace uses an unprecedented collection of opinion surveys to trace these trends across half a century. The results have implications not just for peace-making in Northern Ireland, but for other societies emerging from conflict. The main lesson of peace-making in Northern Ireland is that reforming political structures has to be accompanied by a commitment to social change across the society as a whole. Peace after conflict needs social as well as political change.
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