Milena Komarova

    Sociology, Social Sciences Institute (MUSSI)

    Post-doctoral Researcher

    Biography

    Dr Milena Komarova is a post-doctoral researcher for LINLOSS (Disposals and Dead-ends in Lineages of Social Innovation and Change) - an ERC-funded Research Project led by Prof Jane Gray.

    Milena holds a PhD in Sociology (2008) from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). She has been a Research Fellow for The Conflict In Cities And The Contested State ESRC-funded multidisciplinary research project, at QUB (2007 – 2013); The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute For Global Peace, Security And Justice, QUB (2013 – 2016); The Centre For Cross-Border Studies, Armagh (2017 – 2019); and for The UK In A Changing Europe Initiative, QUB (2019 – 2022). Most recently, Milena was a Lecturer in Human Geography at QUB (2022 – 2024).

    Dr Komarova's work spans the fields of conflict, urban and border studies, exploring the intersections between everyday life, urban space, and conflict transformation in ethno-nationally divided cities. She has further studied the impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on (re)bordering the island of Ireland. This work integrates and reflects Milena’s expertise in qualitative and ethnographic methodology, including in the use of mobile and visual methods.

    Milena has taught extensively at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Sociology and Geography, including for MA Programmes in Social Justice and Conflict Transformation, and in Geopolitics.

    Book Chapter

    Year Publication
    2025 Komarova, M. and Hayward, K. (2025) 'Mashing and clashing sovereignties: How Brexit was conceived in the Irish borderlands' In: Handbook of European Borderlands. London/ New York : Routlege/Taylor and Francis.
    2024 Komarova, M. and Hayward, K. (2024) 'Resisting re-bordering: Cross-border mobilities in an Irish border region in anticipation of Brexit' In: Frontières en mouvement (Frontem): Which Models of Cross-Border Cooperation for the EU?. Brussels : Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/b21864
    2024 Hayward, K. and Komarova, M. (2024) 'Has Brexit Changed the Irish Border Question?' In: Northern Ireland 100 Years On: The End Of The Beginning Or The Beginning Of The End?. Cork : CUP.
    2021 Leary, P., Hayward, K. and Komarova, M. (2021) 'The Irish Border as Sign and Source of British-Irish Tensions' In: Handbook on Human Security, Borders and Migration. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar.
    2019 Hayward, K. and Komarova, M. (2019) 'The Use of Visibility and Violence in Protests at Contentious Events in Northern Ireland' In: The Aesthetics of Global Protest: Visual Culture and Communication. Amsterdam : AUP.
    2018 Komarova, M. (2018) '‘You Have No Legitimate Reason to Access!’ Visibility and Movement in Contested Urban Space’' In: Ethnographies of Movement, Sociality and Space. Place-making in the New Northern Ireland. Oxford : Berghahn Books.
    2018 Svasek, M. and Komarova, M. (2018) 'Introduction. Spatiality, Movement and Place-making' In: Ethnographies of Movement, Sociality and Space. Place-making in the New Northern Ireland. Oxford : Berghahn Books.
    2016 Komarova, M. and O'Dowd, L. (2016) 'Belfast, the ‘Shared City’? Spatial Stories of Conflict Transformation' In: Spatializing Peace and Conflict Mapping the Production of Places, Sites and Scales of Violence. Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan. [DOI]
    2014 Komarova, M. and McKnight, M. (2014) 'Using Digital Photography and Video in Participant Observation of Contentious Events. A 'Methods in Action' Case' In: SAGE Cases in Methodology. London : Sage.
    2013 Komarova, M. and O'Dowd, L. (2013) 'Territorialities of Capital and Place in ‘Post-Conflict’ Belfast' In: Locating Urban Conflicts. Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Everyday. Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan.
    2010 Komarova, M. (2010) 'Imagining a ‘Shared Future’: Post-Conflict Discourses on Peace-Building' In: Political Discourse and Conflict Resolution. Debating Peace in Northern Ireland. London : Routledge.

    Edited Book

    Year Publication
    2022 Deiana, M., Komarova, M. and McCall, C (Ed.). (2022) Cross-border Cooperation as Conflict Transformation: Promises and Limitations in EU Peacebuilding. Cross-border Cooperation as Conflict Transformation: Promises and Limitations in EU Peacebuilding, London: Routledge,
    2018 Komarova, M. and Svasek, M (Ed.). (2018) Ethnographies of Movement, Sociality and Space. Place-making in the New Northern Ireland. Ethnographies of Movement, Sociality and Space. Place-making in the New Northern Ireland, Oxford: Berghahn Books,

    Peer Reviewed Journal

    Year Publication
    2022 Hayward, K., McEwen, N. and Komarova, M. (2022) '‘Managing Scotland's Borders After Independence and EU Accession’'. National Institute Economic Review, 260 . https://doi.org/10.1017/nie.2022.21
    2022 Hayward, K. and Komarova, M. (2022) ''The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Past, Present, and Future Precariousness''. Global Policy, 13 . https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13079
    2019 Deiana, M., Komarova, M. and McCall, C. (2019) 'Cross-Border Cooperation as Conflict Transformation: Promises and Limitations in EU Peacebuilding'. Geopolitics, . https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2019.1599518
    2018 Komarova, M. and Hayward, K. (2018) 'The Irish Border as a European Union Frontier: The Implications for Managing Mobility and Conflict'. Geopolitics, 24 (6). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2018.1496910
    2014 Komarova, M. (2014) 'Mundane Mobilities in Post-Socialist Sofia'. ETNOFOOR: ANTHROPOLOGICAL JOURNAL, .
    2014 Hayward, K. and Komarova, M. (2014) 'The Limits of Local Accommodation: Why Contentious Events Remain Prone to Conflict in Northern Ireland?'. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, . https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2014.931214
    2014 Komarova, M. and Bryan, D. (2014) 'Beyond the Divided City: Policies and Practices of Shared Space'. City, . https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2014.939480
    2013 Komarova, M. and McKnight, M. (2013) '‘We are Watching you Too’: Reflections on Doing Visual Research in a Contested City'. Sociological Research Online, . https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.2877
    2013 O'Dowd, L. and Komarova, M. (2013) 'Three Narratives in Search of A City: Researching Belfast's 'Post-Conflict' Transitions'. City, . https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2013.812366
    2011 O'Dowd, L. and Komarova, M. (2011) 'Contesting Territorial Fixity? A Case Study of Regeneration in Belfast'. Urban Studies, . https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098010382678

    Other Publication

    Year Publication
    2022 Hayward, K., Komarova, M. and Rosher, B. (2022) Political Attitudes in Northern Ireland after Brexit and under the Protocol. https://www.ark.ac.uk/ARK/sites/default/files/2022-05/update147_0.pdf:
    2021 Komarova, M., Hayward, K. and Rosher, B. (2021) Predictable uncertainty: The first six weeks under the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. [Link]
    2021 Komarova, M., Hayward, K. and Rosher, B. (2021) 100 years on: Something old, something new…. [Link]
    2021 Komarova, M., Hayward, K. and Rosher, B. (2021) Hamming it up: sausage wars, porky pies and party roastings: Weeks 19-25 of implementing the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. [Link]
    2021 Komarova, M. and Hayward, K. (2021) The Irish Border. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.644
    2021 Komarova, M. and Hayward, K. (2021) Four non-papers and a command paper. [Link]
    2021 Komarova, M., Hayward, K. and Rosher, B. (2021) A touch of Frost to a heated atmosphere: Weeks 6-12 of implementing the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. [Link]
    2019 Komarova, M., Akehurst, H. and McClatchey, M. (2019) The Impact of Brexit on Devolution in Northern Ireland. [Link]
    2018 Komarova, M. (2018) Brexit and the UK-Ireland Border: A Roadmap. [Link]
    2018 Komarova, M. (2018) Citizens’ Rights and the UK-Ireland Border. [Link]
    2018 Komarova, M. (2018) Brexit and the UK-Ireland Border: Changing Trade Relations and Regulations. [Link]
    2017 Komarova, M. (2017) Cross-border Student Mobility in Third Level Education: An Update. [Link]
    2012 Komarova, M. and McKnight, M. (2012) The Digital Eye in Conflict Management: Doing Visual ethnography in contested urban space. [Link]
    2009 O'Dowd, L. and Komarova, M. (2009) Regeneration in a Contested City: A Belfast Case Study. [Link]
    2008 Komarova, M. (2008) Shared Space in Belfast and the Limits of a ‘Shared Future’. [Link]

    Other Journal

    Year Publication
    2017 Komarova, M. (2017) 'Now you see it, now you don’t’… And now you do again. Brexit and the in/visible UK-Irish land border' The Journal of Centre for Cross Border Studies in Ireland, 12 .

    Published Report

    Year Publication
    2021 Hayward, K. and Komarova, M. (2021) The Border after Brexit: Experiences of Local Communities in the Central Border Region of Ireland / Northern Ireland. Irish Central Border Area Network, . [Link]
    2020 Hayward, K., Phinnemore, D., Komarova, M., (2020) Anticipating and Meeting New Multilevel Governance Challenges in Northern Ireland after Brexit. The UK in a Changing Europe Initiative, . [Link]
    2019 Hayward, K. and Komarova, M. (2019) The Border into Brexit: Perspectives from Local Communities in the Central Border Region of Ireland/Northern Ireland. Irish Central Border Area Network, . [Link]
    2016 Hayward, K., Komarova, M. and Buttazzoni, M. (2016) Brexit and the Border. Managing the UK-Ireland Impact. The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, & The Centre for International Borders Research, Queen's University Belfast, . [Link]
    Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2024) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.