Sabine Rogge

Hubert Faustmann

Thorsten Kruse

The title of this book ‘When the Cemetery Becomes Political’ implies the question: How can the cemetery – a place for the dead – become a space that develops a political dynamic? Scholars from different countries explored such dynamics further in three conferences – one held in Münster/Germany (2017) and the other two in Nicosia/Cyprus (2018/2019). Ten of the papers presented at these conferences are compiled in this volume. They investigate how religious heritage is dealt with in multi-ethnic/religious countries like Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus and Lebanon; one of the papers focuses on the fate of Thessaloniki’s huge Jewish cemetery destructed during the German occupation of Greece in World War II. Further questions addressed in this book are: Why does one group destroy or desecrate the cemeteries and places of worship of the other group(s) during interreligious or interethnic conflicts? What are the reasons behind such extreme actions, and what is the purpose of such acts of destruction? The book gives insights into the complex and complicated interaction between religion and politics – and thus contributes to the discussion of a hot topic of our times. This book contains papers by Elie Al Hindy, Dima de Clerck, Lisa Dikomitis with Vassos Argyrou, Ziad Fahed, Thorsten Kruse, Leon Saltiel, Petros Savvides, Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert with Alexandra Bounia, Theodosios Tsivolas and Željana Tunić.

Dealing with the Religious Heritage in Multi-Ethnic Regions

When the Cemetery Becomes Political

James Ker-Lindsay

For nearly fifty years, Cyprus has attracted considerable international attention. However, while numerous volumes have been written on the causes and consequences of the conflict between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities and the many efforts to reunite the island, very little work has been done on the domestic politics and society in the Republic of Cyprus. This volume addresses this major gap in the literature by providing the first comprehensive examination of the institutions of governance and the political environment in Cyprus. As well as focusing on issues such as the presidency, parliament, the legal system, local government and civil society, it also analyses and explains the historical development of politics in Cyprus and the ways in which the conflict between the two communities, the division of the island and, more recently, European Union accession have all affected the conduct of politics and system of government.

The Government and Politics of Cyprus

Nicos Anastasiou

Iacovos Psaltis

Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Latins, and Armenians have been the primary historical communities that make up the multicultural landscape of Cyprus. However, the continuing conflict between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots has geographically, socially and psychologically segregated these communities, while the influx of economic migrants, especially after Cyprus’s accession to the EU in 2004, has, in turn, contributed to Cyprus’s challenges, arising from multiculturalism, in an altogether different perspective. How has education, over time, addressed and re-examined all these issues introduced by Cyprus’ complex evolving multiculturalism and ethnic diversity? How can education better attend to current problems of coexistence in Cyprus, and what kind of role can it play in a federal re-united country? This collection of essays introduces an innovative and critical examination of these questions in order to provide relevant answers. More specifically, it examines how formal, non-formal and informal education contributed to the creation and perpetuation of the Cyprus conflict, as well as to prejudices, inter-ethnic stereotypes, and misperceptions. The book also discusses how education could contribute to conflict transformation, empathy and peaceful coexistence amongst the different Cypriot communities, and how this has been possible in other multi-ethnic societies. The volume will be of interest to students, practitioners, and researchers interested in peace education, multiculturalism and conflict transformation.

Hubert Faustmann

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