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In wartime, artists often play an important role in keeping social structures alive and mitigating suffering. Yet art can also be used as a tool for the propagation of violence or the consolidation of an unjust status quo; the brutal iconography used on the murals in Belfast during the Troubles being a prominent example. Memories of Violence investigates the potential of artwork to bring to the fore often-invisible configurations of violence that span across the globe.

Many peace processes fail to address the legacies of violence and to offer meaningful avenues of repair on the part of perpetrators, some of whom are outside the physical space in which violence was, or continues to be, experienced. Stefanie Kappler looks at situations of violence where societies are implicated in and continue to benefit from the legacies of violence, particularly the peace processes of South Africa, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Northern Ireland. Bringing together Peace and Conflict Studies with Memory Studies, Kappler examines how art offers an opportunity to achieve a mnemonic peace—a memory-oriented peace that acknowledges the complex ways in which historical violence and its legacies are constituted. While recognizing the power structures that limit artists and curators, Memories of Violence reveals how they can play a role in addressing situations of complex implication; amplify the voices that call for acknowledgment, reparations, and solidarity; and suggest avenues for facilitating this process.

A comparative analysis of two militant nationalist groups.

Why do some militant nationalists turn to electoral politics while others resist-and even seek to destroy-that arena? Cynthia L. Irvin examines two cases of electoral interventions by nationalist organizations engaged in violent political competition: in Northern Ireland and in the Basque provinces of Spain. Based on her findings, she offers insights into the circumstances that lead such groups to abandon violence in favor of institutional political struggle.

New England politics can, at first blush, appear monochromatic. After all, only one member of the entire region’s delegation to the US Congress is a Republican, and citizens have elected few Republicans to the US House or Senate in the last decade. But this has not always been the case. In 1948, only two states in the region–Rhode Island and Connecticut–had Democratic senators. Yet a closer examination of the region today reveals fascinating political variation. Liberal policies, greater diversity, and engaged political movements are reshaping stereotypical Yankee tendencies of close-fisted government, whiteness, and laconic discourse.

This collection of new essays captures both the political history and contemporary moment in this region and exposes the surprisingly varied political landscape. It examines historical shifts, regional developments, and the politics of its states to argue that New England has been and continues to be an important part of the national political puzzle, from demonstrating democratic principles in early America to producing major contemporary figures such as Elizabeth Warren, Ayanna Pressley, and Susan Collins. The political shifts at work in New England mirror the South’s transformation, but have received much less attention. This volume corrects that omission by profiling political movements and candidates, political rhetoric from activists to pundits, and demographics and voting in each state as well as the region as a whole.

In addition to material by the editors, this important collection includes contributions from Rachael V. Cobb, Jerold Duquette, Christopher J. Galdieri, Jane JaKyung Han, Douglas B. Harris, Luis Jiménez, Scott McLean, James Melcher, Maureen Moakley, Paul Petterson, and Dante J. Scala.