The We Society S8 Ep6: Borders, Brexit, and Fault Lines with Katy Hayward
Jun 25, 2025
Katy Hayward, a political sociologist at Queen’s University Belfast and an expert on Brexit and the Irish border, joins Will Hutton in a thought-provoking discussion. They explore how borders act as both fault lines and meeting points for diverse cultures. Katy highlights the complex interplay between Brexit and Northern Irish identity, addressing the repercussions of the Windsor Framework. They also talk about the historical significance of the Good Friday Agreement and what it means for future conflict resolution and cooperation in the region.
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Borders: Fault Lines and Meeting Points
- Borders act both as fault lines creating division and as meeting points fostering culture and ideas exchange.
- Ireland demonstrates how border conflicts can evolve into cooperative peace frameworks with political compromise.
Border Prism Shapes Northern Ireland
- The Northern Ireland conflict is viewed through the border prism focusing on national identity conflicts.
- Brexit intensified the border's importance, keeping it central in Northern Irish politics today.
Multiple Lenses on Northern Conflict
- Economic deprivation strongly correlates with areas most affected by Northern Ireland's conflict.
- Other lenses include colonial legacy and religious differences, but class economic analysis didn't dominate.