Paper short abstract:

This paper sheds light on the complexities of everyday life with the enemy. Its use of a relational approach to investigation and analysis allows a shift from coexistence to cohabitation. It builds on fieldwork in Potamia, Pyla, Nicosia and London (Haringay) 2000-2006 and in Belfast 2013-2014.

Paper long abstract:

This paper sheds light on the complexities of everyday life with the enemy. Its use of a relational approach to investigation and analysis allows a shift from coexistence to cohabitation. It goes beyond a comparative examination of the simultaneous existence of two populations or categories or an understanding of the complexities of the 'global' affecting the 'simplicity' of the 'local' to address (dis)harmony through the actual complex relational experiences of co-inhabitants. Its comparative analysis of different cohabitations within a single conflict zone (individualizing comparison), in this case Cyprus and with other conflicts zones, here Northern Ireland, illuminates the rhythms, times and temporalities of conflict transformation and questions the global neo-Wilsonian peace paradigm. Fieldwork in Potamia, Pyla, Nicosia and London (Haringay) 2000-2006 and in Belfast 2013-2014 suggests the study of cohabitation permits a more thorough understanding of conflict and peace potentialities 'from within'. Ultimately, as the analysis moves from small border villages and cities in Cyprus to the neighborhoods of the global city of London and the UK peripheral border city of Belfast, we can posit another understanding of urban transformations and rethink the scales of violence and peace potentialities beyond the territoriality of the city.