Descripción del proyecto
John Hume and the Creation of the European Dimension in Ireland will investigate how John Hume helped to create the conditions for a diverse constituency in Northern Ireland to reimagine its political and cultural identity in Europe. The kernel of JHCEDI is a research question that has not been adequately addressed in the literature on Hume, or on Ireland in Europe: How did Hume’s reconceptualisation of Ireland in Europe facilitate the peace process in Northern Ireland? This project could hardly be more timely: a thorough public awareness of the history of Northern Ireland in Europe through the lens of its key political actor, Hume, over the past half-century could provide a vital contribution to public discourse and attitudes towards the future. Today three pillars of considerable geopolitical significance – the threat to the Good Friday Agreement, the disruptions of Brexit, and the ongoing controversies that surround the Northern Ireland Protocol – give urgency to JHCEDI. No work yet exists that fully transcends the paradigms in which Hume has been framed by situating Hume’s project in the paradigm of nation formation in a European tradition as well as in ethnic studies. This is the gap in the literature that JHCEDI will address. The vision he shared with t of a Europe of regions and of shared sovereignty was at once a transnational priority for Hume and a strategy to resolve Ireland’s internal dilemmas. The objective of JHCEDI is to investigate how Hume helped to create the conditions for a diverse constituency in Northern Ireland to reimagine their political inheritance. The outputs of JHCEDI will be the articles and the public dissemination of my findings, being essential actions to lay the groundwork for my monograph in this subject.