Dr Anouk Ride was announced as one of two winners of the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research Higher Degree Theses 2014 from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Queensland. The award is based on examiner’s reports for theses they consider to be a substantial contribution to the field of research. Below is an abstract of the award-winning thesis.

‘Divided yet one’: Narratives of conflict and peace in Solomon Islands

This dissertation examines causes and manifestations of conflict in Solomon Islands. Comparison of academic literature, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report (2013) and narrative analysis by a group of local creative writers, finds that research has overemphasised ethnic differences in conflict. More relevant to understanding conflict are the divisions between society and the political and militant elite, who often use state resources for their own wealth and security. The difference between Western academic and local views raises key questions about how conflict analysis includes and excludes its participants and how practitioners work with communities ‘divided yet one’.

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