Symbolic Complexity and Social Division: The Changing Role of Religion in Northern Ireland

And Ethnicity and Religion: Intersections and Comparisons, Taylor and Francis, 2010, ed by J. Ruane and J. Todd

Ethnopolitics, Vol. 10, Issue 2, 2010

32 Pages Posted: 24 Jul 2012

See all articles by Jennifer Todd

Jennifer Todd

University College Dublin (UCD) - School of Politics and International Relations, Dublin

Date Written: 2010

Abstract

Religious distinctions, ethnic oppositions and national differences intersect in Northern Ireland. In this article I explore how this symbolic complexity has fed political conflict. I argue the institutional structure of Northern Ireland encouraged the generalisation of religiously-informed values across the fields of ethnicity and politics which in turn feed back to tighten and constrain available religious repertoires. The recent process of institutional reform has interrupted this process. While this is only one factor which contributes to the reproduction of conflict, it allows us to make sense of otherwise paradoxical features of everyday division in Northern Ireland, and to explain the seemingly inchoate processes of change in the post-1998 period.

Keywords: conflict, settlement, ethnicity, religion, politics, symbolic boundaries, Northern Ireland

Suggested Citation

Todd, Jennifer, Symbolic Complexity and Social Division: The Changing Role of Religion in Northern Ireland (2010). And Ethnicity and Religion: Intersections and Comparisons, Taylor and Francis, 2010, ed by J. Ruane and J. Todd, Ethnopolitics, Vol. 10, Issue 2, 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2114878

Jennifer Todd (Contact Author)

University College Dublin (UCD) - School of Politics and International Relations, Dublin ( email )

Belfield
Dublin, 4
Ireland

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