This SEPAD project and the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC) publication, Dividing Lines: Reimagining Social Division in ‘Divided Societies’, brings together a range of experts to examine the similarities and differences across ‘divided societies’, using the concept of sectarianism to better understand efforts to address division across the world. It explores the concept of sectarianism in peacebuilding and the resulting effects that have emerged from this process, whilst also reflecting on divisions in other societies that are home to enduring social, political and religious divisions across the world.

This publication has been edited by Professor Simon Mabon (Director of SEPAD and Professor of International Relations, Lancaster University). It includes contributions from: Anne Kirstine Rønn (PhD Student, Aarhus University); Professor John Nagle (Professor of Sociology, Queen’s University Belfast); Dr Giulia Carabelli (Lecturer in Sociology [Social Policy], Queen Mary, University of London); Dr Emanuelle Degli Esposti (Research and Outreach Associate, Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge); Dr Richard Johnson (Lecturer in US & Policy, Queen Mary, University of London); Dr Ajay Gudavarthy (Associate Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University); Dr Tim Rackett (Independent researcher); Saleena Saleem (PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of Liverpool); Dr Alexander R. Arifianto (Research Fellow with S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) – Nanyang Technological University, Singapore); and Professor David Chiavacci (Professor in Social Science of Japan, University of Zurich).

To see the full list of recommendations please download the publication.

This report was launched with a webinar discussion on Tuesday 19th July, with the following speakers: Professor John Nagle (Professor of Sociology at Queen’s University Belfast); Dr Emanuelle Degli Esposti (Research and Outreach Associate at the Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge); and Professor Simon Mabon (Director of SEPAD and Professor of International Relations, Lancaster University). The event was chaired by Bambos Charalambous MP (Shadow Foreign Office Minister for Middle East & North Africa). Watch the recording of the event here or listen to the audio here.