I recently became an associate member of the Hub for the Study of Hybrid Communications in Peacebuilding, a new interdisciplinary group of researchers who aim to understand the communicative conditions for civil peace. Hosted by the Centre for Freedom of the Media (University of Sheffield), in collaboration with the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (University of Manchester), the Hub will examine how both representational and non-representational forms of communication can help construct peace.

I have written a short essay discussing some of my findings from my forthcoming book Digital contention in a divided society. In this piece, I problematise social media peacebuilding initiatives such as Peace on Facebook, and argue that we should be wary of such ‘technological solutionism’. I explore how social media may be enabling the ‘post-Agreement’ generation in Northern Ireland to mobilise in policy areas that transcend the tribal politics of its violent past.

Thanks to Stef Pukallus and Catherine Arthur for their support and help with this. The post can be read here and my book can be preordered here