Belfast Labour, Nationalism and Sectarianism

Abstract

This chapter combines quantitative and qualitative analysis to examine the Belfast labour movement and national and religious division. It questions previous analysis—which has over-emphasised the ‘failure’ of labour in policy and electoral terms—on the politics of identity, nationality and sectarianism in the city. The first section is concerned with discussion of the politics of identity, nationality and sectarianism. It assesses the inter-war Belfast labour movement and the politics of nationality. The second section examines the relationship between the Belfast labour movement and sectarianism. It examines how national, political and sectarian violence and conflict affected local labour. The third section addresses how Belfast labour addressed sectarian rhetoric and language.