Critical theory and ethno-national conflict: Assessing Northern Ireland’s peace process as a model of conflict resolution

Shane O'Neill

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    11 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This article assesses the peace process in Northern Ireland as a model of ethno-national conflict resolution. It sets the argument in the context of some on-going debates between advocates of the bi-national, consociational features of the Belfast Agreement of 1998 and its integrationist critics (I). In order to avoid the danger of false analogy, the category of ethno-national conflict is then placed in the broader context of ethnic politics (II) before the advantages of a critical-theoretical methodological approach to the investigation of such conflicts are outlined (III). The explanatory, normative and practical dimensions of this approach are then presented so as to clarify how the causes of conflict in Northern Ireland are to be dismantled (IV). In assessing the merits of the peace process against this standard (V), some important criticisms of the Agreement that have emerged from an egalitarian, cosmopolitan, democratic perspective will be interrogated.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)411-431
    Number of pages21
    JournalIrish Political Studies
    Volume22
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2007

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Sociology and Political Science
    • Political Science and International Relations

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