Abstract

Taking as a starting point the conviction that everyday interactions carry the potential to be either conflictual or peaceful, this article examines people’s everyday behaviour in the deeply divided city of Kirkuk, Iraq. Using the historic bazaar in Kirkuk city as a site of analysis, and through a research survey of 511 people, it focuses on interactions between Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen. The article draws on Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic capital and takes an intersectional approach to analyse the everyday interactions in the bazaar to create a better understanding of the role of space and privilege. The results demonstrate that for the most part, at the everyday level people carry out acts of everyday peace rather than conflict. However, when everyday conflict does occur, those with the highest symbolic capital are the most likely actors. Additionally, although gender does influence people’s actions, ethnosectarian identity has greater influence in many areas related to everyday peace and conflict. On a practical level, the article argues that such an understanding can connect better to policymaking and peacebuilding as it can point to where and how peacebuilders should focus their attention in order to promote and enhance peace within people’s everyday lives.

摘要

以日常互动可能是冲突的或和平的这一信念为出发点，本文考察了伊拉克基尔库克这个分裂严重的城市中人们的日常行为。以基尔库克市历史悠久的集市为分析地点，通过对511人的研究调查，重点关注库尔德人、阿拉伯人和土库曼人之间的互动。文章借鉴了布迪厄的符号资本理论，并采用交叉方法来分析集市中的日常互动，以更好地理解空间和特权的作用。结果表明，在大多数情况下，在日常层面，人们进行日常和平而不是冲突的行为。然而，当日常冲突确实发生时，那些具有最高象征资本的人是最有可能的行动者。此外，尽管性别确实会影响人们的行为，但民族宗派认同在与日常和平与冲突相关的许多领域具有更大的影响。在实践层面，文章认为，这种理解可以更好地与决策和建设和平联系起来，因为它可以指出和平建设者应该将注意力集中在何处以及如何集中，以促进和加强人们日常生活中的和平。