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    Demographic change and conflict in Northern Ireland: reconciling qualitative and quantitative evidence

    Kaufmann, Eric P. (2011) Demographic change and conflict in Northern Ireland: reconciling qualitative and quantitative evidence. Ethnopolitics 10 (3-4), pp. 369-389. ISSN 1744-9057.

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    Abstract

    Recent large-N quantitative studies have failed to uncover a link between demographic change and conflict. This seems to refute quite powerful qualitative evidence from small-scale case studies that such a relationship exists. This article attempts to reconcile the conflicting evidence by revealing how population change—in this case a major decline in the size of the Protestant majority—matters for violent conflict, but not in a direct way. In addition, relationships differ by level of geography. In the case of Northern Ireland, no significant quantitative association exists between ethnic change and violence. This holds across both geographic units and years. However, there is a significant association between ethnic demography and Protestant mobilization into the Orange Order across counties. This in turn is related to Protestant resistance to reforms aimed at extending civil rights to the Catholic population during the Stormont period. This stance was a major factor in generating Catholic support for IRA violence. Moreover, in specific locations, a direct link between Protestant population decline relative to Catholics and loyalist violence against Catholics is evident. Hence demography matters, but in conjunction with other factors, and several steps upstream from the outbreak of violence.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Additional Information: This is an electronic version of an article published in Ethnopolitics © 2011 Taylor & Francis; available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17449057.2011.596117
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
    Depositing User: Administrator
    Date Deposited: 11 Oct 2011 08:46
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 16:56
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/4198

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