Spyros A. Sofos's Page

What motivated you (or your organization) to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?

Coming from a country that within my lifetime experienced a coup d'etat, a difficult transition to democracy, a long period of tension with Turkey and more recently with the Republic of Macedonia, conflict and conflict resolution have always been present in my professional interests as an academic and practitioner.

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself or the work of your organization (no more than 3 paragraphs)

I am a Senior Research Fellow in International Studies at the Helen Bamber Centre for the Study of Conflict and Human Rights of Kingston University, London. Editor of the 'Journal of Contemporary European Studies' and of 'Southeastern Europe; charting an emerging european region'. My publications include 'Nation and Identity in Contemporary Europe' (with Brian Jenkins - 1997), 'Tormented by History: Nationalism in Greece and Turkey' (with Umut Özkırımlı -2007), 'Το Βάσανο της Ιστορίας. Ο Εθνικισμός στην Ελλάδα και την Τουρκία' (2008), and 'Islam in Europe: Public Spaces and Civic Networks' (with Roza Tsagarousianou, forthcoming 2010).

I have worked for the development of/been director of Kingston University's MSc in International Conflict in its first few formative years and have taught courses in conflict management, resolution and transformation as well as intercultural communication, mediation and negotiation skills.

I have previously been a NATO Research Fellow and taught at the Universities of Kent and of Portsmouth. I have been visiting Professor at the Universities of Tartu and Siena and I am a research associate of the European Institute, Istanbul Bilgi University.

I am interested in conflict transformation both at international and local level and offer advice, develop relevant programmes to a number of UK local authorities and pursue academic research in these areas.

I am advising local authorities on issues of social inclusion and diversity and I am director of CommunityMatters, a non-profit organization providing training and support for communities and organizations in the areas of intercultural communication, conflict transformation and inclusiveness.

I am coordinator of the Southeastern Europe network (http://southeasterneurope.ning.com/).

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you (or your organization) have direct and significant expertise

Southeastern Europe (Balkans, Turkey, Caucasus region), Western Europe with respect to migrant minorities, European Muslims.

What is your current country of residence (or location of your organization)?

United Kingdom

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

Senior Research Fellow, Kingston University

What is one of your favorite websites in the field? (please provide one answer per box)

http://www.conflicttransformation.org/

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise (or the primary sectoral areas of your organization) ?

Civil Society, Conflict Resolution, Democratization, Development, Dialogue, Facilitation, Human Rights, Media, Organizational Development, Social Entreprenuership

Which are your primary skills areas(or the primary skill areas of your organization)?

Capacity Building, Communication, Evaluation, Program Administration, Program Design, Program Implemenation, Research, Training

What are some of your current areas of research (if any)?

Divided Societies and conflict transformation
Conflict in the Western Balkans, Southeastern Europe
Intercultural communication
European Muslims in local and transnational contexts

If appropriate feel free to list several of your (or your organization's) publications

Books:
'Nation and Identity in Contemporary Europe' (with Brian Jenkins - Routledge, 1997)
'Tormented by History: Nationalism in Greece and Turkey' (with Umut Özkırımlı -Hurst, 2007),
'Το Βάσανο της Ιστορίας. Ο Εθνικισμός στην Ελλάδα και την Τουρκία' (Καστανιώτης, 2008)
'Islam in Europe: Public Spaces and Civic Networks' (with Roza Tsagarousianou, forthcoming Palgrave 2010).

Other:
2009: ‘Memory, History and the Past in Greece and Turkey’ (with U. Özkırımlı), in A. Aktar, N. Kızılyürek and U. Özkırımlı (eds), The Troubled Triangle: Nationalism in Cyprus, Greece and Turkey, Basingstoke and NY: Palgrave
2009: ‘Colonizing the Past: History and Memory in Greece and Turkey’ in F.A. Gemenne and S. G. Carvalho (eds) Nations and their Histories, Basingstoke and NY: Palgrave
2009: ‘Contested Geographies: Greece, Turkey and the Territorial Imagination’ in O. Anastasakis, K. Oktem, K. Nikolaidis (eds) Under the Long Shadows of Europe: Greeks and Turks in the Era of Post-Nationalism, Leiden: Brill
2008: 'Grassroots diplomacy in the Southern Balkans', The Bridge: A Quarterly Review on European Integration, 8
2007: ‘Turkey’s summer fever: symptom of a changing political system?’ Southeastern Europe, Volume 1, Number 1
2001: ‘European integration and the Transformation of Turkish Politics’ in K Featherstone and G Kazamias (eds), Europeanization and the Southern Periphery, London: Frank Cass.
2001: ‘Yugoslavia: The Day After ...’, Mediterranean Politics, 6:3
2001: ‘Macedonia at the crossroads’, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, 3:2
2000: ‘Reluctant Europeans? European integration and the Transformation of Turkish Politics’, South European Society and Politics, Winter
1999: ‘Culture, media and the politics of disintegration in former Yugoslavia’, in T. Allen & J. Seaton (eds), The Media of Conflict: War Reporting and Representations of Ethnic Violence, London: Zed
1999: ‘Kosovo: History, Identity, Ethnic Conflict’, Mediterranean Politics, 3:3.
1997: ‘From “Yugoslav” to national cultures: ethnic conflict and the nationalization of the public spheres of former Yugoslavia’, Res Publica, 2
1996: ‘Nationalism, Mass Communications and Public Rituals in Former Yugoslavia: The case of Serbia’, Contemporary Politics, 2:1
1996: ‘Inter-ethnic Violence and Gendered Constructions of Ethnicity in former Yugoslavia’, Social Identities, 2:1
1993: ‘The Politics of Identity: Nationalism in Contemporary Greece’, in J. Amodia (ed.) The Resurgence of Nationalist Movements in Europe, Bradford (Bradford Occassional Papers No 12), (with R. Tsagarousianou).