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Parliamentary Means of Conflict Resolution in 20th Century Britain

The extensive records of parliamentary speaking and decision-making, especially in the British Parliament, constitute an extensive source material the potential of which has not yet been fully exploited. Relatively little historical research on modern parliamentary speaking exists. Historians have mainly focused on the history of the institution as a whole or on an individual politician’s participation in decision-making. Research on 20th-century British political history, with special and explicit focus on Parliament, is surprisingly scarce, too.

In this project, it is argued that parliamentary sources can shed light on parliamentary modes of conflict management and the associated use of language. We are interested in parliamentary means of conflict resolution that is the practices and discourses of the parliamentarians that aimed at solving an acute domestic or foreign political crisis in a parliamentary democracy. We are likewise interested in potential conflicts between Parliament and the general public.

The project has three main themes which are (i) the contexts and representations of parliamentary debates on conflicts; (ii) the concepts and rhetorical strategies used in parliamentary debates on conflicts; and (iii) the role of Parliament in attempts to solve international and national conflicts.

Research team includes the project leader, PhD Pasi Ihalainen, two post-doctoral researchers (one of them in Sweden) and two doctoral students. The Academy of Finland is the main financier of this project. Each member of the project will be focusing on his or her individual project mostly related of political debates in the British Parliament. The project has also associate members whose themes for research are related to the parliamentary means of conflict resolution.