Five fallacies

Northern Ireland and the liabilities of liberalism

Bibliographic Data

ID2145842
AuthorsJohn Mcgarry (0000-0002-5590-7115, a Associate Professor in Department of History and Political Science, King's College , University of Western Ontario , 266 Epworth Avenue, London, Ontario, N6A 2M3, Canada), Brendan O''Leary (PoliticalScience,DeptOfGovernment,LondonSchoolOfEconomics&PoliticalScience,HoughtonStreet,London,Wc2a2ae), Brian O’leary (0000-0002-6786-8715, b Reader in Political Science, Dept of Government , London School of Economics & Political Science , Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, UK), Brendan O'Leary
Year1995
Volume18
Issue4
Pages837-861
Publication date1995-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.1995.9993893
OpenAlexW2072045278
LanguageEN
Citations received37
References cited28

Five fallacies in the misinterpretation of conflict in Northern Ireland, which are characteristic of liberal readings of ethno-national conflicts, are identified and criticized in this article: (i) blaming the conflict on extremist political and religious élites; (ii) assuming that the conflict has fundamental economic and material foundations; (iii) assuming that the conflict flows from archaic religious or non-religious political cultures; (iv) assuming that segregation is the key social and structural cause of conflict; and (v) assuming that individual discrimination is the primary motor of antagonisms. The authors insist on the ethno-national nature of the conflict and the need for appropriate political means to address it

Ethnology · Liberalism · Northern ireland · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Religious conflict · Social conflict · Sociology · Irish and British Studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Religion and Society Interactions

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