Loyalist political identity after the Peace

Finlayson, Alan (1999) Loyalist political identity after the Peace. Capital and Class, 23 (3). pp. 47-75. ISSN 0309-8168

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Abstract

This article looks at the ways in which conceptions of Loyalist identity have been affected by the current political conjuncture in Northern Ireland. It argues that claims about cultural and political group identity are central to Loyalist political discourses and that the way in which this identity is figured is both variable and limited. Analysing the rhetoric of both the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) the article shows how the reactions of these two parties to the ‘peace process' turn, in part, on (re)definitions of group identity shaped out a discourse concerned with authenticity and betrayal. From this basis the article explores the relationship of class identity to the formation of Loyalism and speculates as to the ways in which these parties might develop their imagining of identity as the peace process unfolds. It pays particular attention to the ways in working-class politics might become particularly central to the PUP.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Special Issue: Northern Ireland Between Peace and War
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies (former - to 2024)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Cultural Politics, Communications & Media Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Policy & Politics
Depositing User:	Katherine Humphries
Date Deposited:	02 Feb 2012 11:19
Last Modified:	28 Mar 2025 04:59
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/36760
DOI:	10.1177/030981689906900105

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