Introduction

Recent conflicts in Rwanda, Bosnia and Northern Ireland have brought attention to the role of families in inter-communal violence. Acts of inter-communal violence, and the consequences of these, have become more commonly known as ethnic cleansing. Inter-communal violence is characterised by the eruption of violent acts between those who were former neighbours, friends, even relatives and leads to death and injury, with resultant movement of populations. Violence is rationalised on the basis of religious or ethnic differences and the supposed need to exclude those deemed not to belong to a particular group or community. Familial networks, and the interweaving of interpretations of history and memories, help forge collective identities around which a sense of belonging outweighs prior neighbourly connections among families and friends. In this chapter we explore how the boundaries between history, memories and public institutions become contested in and around families, and can form the basis to inter-communal violence.

The chapter opens with a brief overview on violence in and between families. This is followed by a consideration of the role of the home as a location, and the family as a hub, for the creation and moulding of identities. Subsequently, we address recent work on the contested nature of boundaries around memories, history and time. Families can become a conduit for the creation and reinforcement of differences that may be worked out through tensions and violence. At the same time inter-communal violence creates a cultural context in which the prevalence of violence in families, such as domestic violence, increases. The sanctioning of violence becomes evident between and within families. To further these arguments we present two case studies. First, we outline the work of Bringa (1995, 2002) on village and family life in a Muslim community in Bosnia: and, second, we explore a study by Connolly and Healy (2003) on the development of children's attitudes towards ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland. In the concluding comments, we assert that families may be viewed as ‘porous’.