The reform-conflict paradox in Northern Ireland, 1963--1972: Constitutional logic and transnational dimensions of ethnic political contention

Ironically, efforts to promote social equality in ethnically divided societies have resulted in armed conflicts while armed conflicts have given rise to the pursuit of social equality. Two factors explain this paradoxical relationship. First, actors commonly view social equality and constitutional change as two sides of the same coin. Second, shifts in national and transnational level processes generally interact with ethnic contention in ways that expand the scope of policy reforms and heighten levels of political violence. Using archival searches, interviews of key informants, and a protest event database, I examine relations between the largely Protestant, Unionist majority and the mostly Catholic, Nationalist minority in Northern Ireland.; The prospect of ending the partition of Ireland motivated several activists playing key roles in the formation of a civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. Mass mobilization in the later part of the 1960s triggered a backlash by Unionists concerned about the constitutional implications of civil rights demands. Reforms enacted by the Northern Ireland state increased violence by militant Unionists. In the face of repression and vigilante attacks, a large section of the Nationalist population revolted in the pursuit of a united Ireland in the early 1970s. Intense, prolonged political violence subsequently encouraged initiatives aimed at accommodating Nationalists. The ability of activists to create pressure on behalf of civil rights demands depended upon the resources, organizational capacities, inter-organizational dynamics, political opportunities, collective action frames, and forms of contention of rival transnational networks of organizations with competing policy agendas. While researches have emphasized factors internal to Northern Ireland, shifts in external factors also significantly affected the trajectory and policy consequences of civil rights contention. Changes in: (1) the levels and dynamics of transnational mobilization; (2) international media coverage of contention; and (3) relations between states, initially promoted reforms but subsequently undermined efforts to sustain policy progress, to prevent rebellion in the face of violent opposition, and to restrain counter-insurgency measures. Insights gained by focusing upon the dynamics and transnational dimensions of ethnic issue contention point towards the need for analytical reorientation and conceptual retooling within the fields of ethnic studies and social movements research.