Explaining the Emergence Process of the Civil Rights Protest in Northern Ireland (1945–1968): Insights from a Relational Social Movement Approach¹

Abstract

This article explains how the contingent of complex interactions among pre-existing structural settings, institutional constraints, processes of regional and international transformative events, and uniquely combined developments within and between different contenders in the aftermath of the Second World War shaped Northern Ireland socio and political relations and thus instigated the Civil Rights Movement mobilization process. By re-introducing the time-space context into our studies of collective action, through a relational reading, my intent first is to advance our understanding of those episodes and complex patterns of interaction that give rise to social movements, and second to move beyond the static movement-centric approach explanation and away from the a-historical nature of much of the social movement literature. My historical-sociological research, into the longitudinal case study of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement mobilization, involves secondary and new empirical primary sources, such as archival analysis, qualitative examination of Northern Ireland daily newspapers during the 1960s, and the collection of 35 semi-structured interviews with key players from the Civil Rights Movement.

Putting the Peaces Back Together: The ‘Long’ Liberalising Peace in Northern Ireland, from O’Neill to PEACE

“…However, in taking such a strong normative stance, O'Neill highlighted and opened public debates regarding potential inequalities and issues of distribution amongst Catholics and Protestants which may have otherwise remained hidden within the daily grind of administration. Indeed, by exposing these issues as potentially political ones, O'Neill opened new opportunities for protest (see Bosi, 2008). In short, O'Neill's rhetoric valorised and exaggerated the trends that his predecessor had only reluctantly accepted, making these clear, public -and overtly political.…”

“…O'Neill reflected this: he congratulated himself on abstaining from 'political speeches' -that is, controversial or overtly polemical addresses (O'Neill, 1972: 27) and expressed a marked distaste for the expression of extreme or immoderate views in parliament (O'Neill, 1969: 52) and even less for the street protest. The latter was on the rise in response to the emerging Northern Ireland Civil Rights movements and the loyalist and Paisleyite movements that began to contest each other's activities, in addition to more localised rioting amongst urban Catholics and Protestants (Scarman, 1972;Purdie, 1990;Prince, 2007;Bosi, 2008). Instead, O'Neill promoted a series of reforms focused on social and economic 'modernisation' which entailed an encompassing programme of rationalisation, coordination, training and development.…”

“…O'Neill, in contrast, greeted disagreement within his party as an opportunity to bring about otherwise difficult changes and to gain the crucial support of the increasingly powerful civil service. Thus, O'Neill's reforms were 'rhetorical' (see Bosi, 2008) in two senses. Not only were they largely superficial, but, by virtue of this fact, O'Neillism employed rhetorical flourishes to openly promote and enliven a largely administrative agenda, lofty notions of Northern Ireland as an emerging international actor, not to mention the ethical transformations that would be required in order to justify (post hoc) his efforts as an appropriate response to rising conflict.…”

“…The latter undertook a number of major reforms, including the implementation of a new, single-member plurality electoral system; the vast expansion of social services and the creation of a post-war welfare state; the signing of the Ireland Act of 1949, which guaranteed Northern Ireland's position as a part of the UK until such time as its parliament determined otherwise; a strong focus on economic development in the wake of the decline of the region's major industries, ship-building and linen; and the reform of education (Patterson, 2006;Bosi, 2008). These reforms were…”

Explaining Pathways to Armed Activism in the Provisional Irish Republican Army, 1969-1972

“…At the end of the 1960s political contention emerged in Northern Ireland over the civil rights movement's claim to make the regional political system more open and fair, a claim that the Unionist establishment and the Loyalist countermovement resisted with harsh state repression and open violent confrontation, respectively (Bosi 2006(Bosi , 2008. This sociopolitical crisis in the region opened the space, first, for extreme communal violence during the summer of 1969 and, then, for the emergence of the PIRA at the end of 1969 as a result of a split from the Official Irish Republican Army (see appendix 1 for a glossary of case-specific terminology).Î t is difficult to explain armed activism mobilization in the PIRA at its early stage, 1969-72, in terms of single pathways, since every former volunteer I met had a unique story to tell about his or her own path toward participation in the armed struggle.…”