State strategy and the incorporation of social movements: the case of Provisional Irish Republicanism 1970-1998

This article considers the development of the Provisional republican movement in Ireland as a social movement from the early 1980s. It suggests that its organizational trajectory has been one of institutionalization and incorporation whilst ideologically Provisionalism has adapted pragmatically to the status quo in Northern Ireland. In attempting to explain the main processes that have shaped this development the discussion will consider the nature of civil society in the nationalist community from which the Provisionals emerged, and the developing relationship between that community and the British state. In particular it will stress the importance of social and economic policy as a political instrument deployed by success sive British governments in Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. The article assesses the impact of this state strategy on the development of the Provisional Republican movement. By drawing on some of the themes of social movement literature it also attempts to deepen our understanding of the nature of the contemporary state and its ability to shape the forms and structures of civil society. It looks at the patterns of these partnerships and relationships in Northern Ireland and considers how far they represent state strength or weakness in the face of an insurgent challenge. In making these assessments, the paper will suggest that British state strategy in its various manifestations of both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power has created a contradictory and yet essentially stabilizing structures of power that will continue to define Northern Ireland for the foreseeable future.

Keywords: Social movements, political violence, social movement theory, Northern Irish politics and Irish Republicanism

Kevin Bean, La strategia dello Stato e l’incorporazione dei movimenti sociali: il caso del movimento repubblicano irlandese fra il 1970 e il 1998 in "PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO" 3/2011, pp 58-78, DOI: 10.3280/PACO2011-003004