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oai:figshare.com:article/32826095 2026-10-01T16:10:48Z portal_1172 item_type_8 month_year_10_2026

A place apart? Visualising west Belfast, 1969 – 1998 Catherine Sinead Burns (24304403) PUREID: 656121035 Photography working-class communities West Belfast social history cultural history conflict deindustrialisation redevelopment social change twentieth century This thesis is about the photographic representation of west Belfast during the decades of the Troubles, a period of violent conflict between civilians, paramilitaries, and the security forces between 1969 and 1998. Popular understandings of west Belfast, much like the broader historiography of Northern Ireland, have been heavily shaped by the legacy of the conflict. Through the exploration of four different genres of photography including press, documentary, community, and family photography, this thesis examines how different practitioners captured west Belfast and its people and how they engaged not only with themes of conflict, but of deindustrialisation, urban redevelopment, and social change in their work. Historical analyses of both photographic practices and working-class communities in west Belfast remain conspicuous by their absence. This thesis, therefore, occupies a prominent position within the social history of Belfast. In filling this lacuna, it builds a new social history of Belfast grounded in photographic representation, revealing how systemic forces of conflict, deindustrialisation, urban redevelopment, and social change inscribed themselves onto the textures of everyday life and the lived experiences and emotions of individuals, families, and communities who persisted amid the enduring shadow of violence.<br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 December 2030.</i> 2026-10-01T16:10:48Z Text Thesis 10.17034/32826095.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/A_place_apart_Visualising_west_Belfast_1969_1998/32826095 All Rights Reserved Open Access after 2030-12-31