Citizenship, civil war and welfare: the making of modern Ireland

Abstract

In this chapter, Robert Pinker examines how civil war influences T.H. Marshall's hypothesis that the civil, political and social rights of citizenship developed under conditions of peace. Using the examples of Ireland and Northern Ireland, Pinker discusses the conditions in which the advancement of welfare or well-being is likely to be seriously disrupted by focusing on Marshall's theory of citizenship and welfare. Marshall describes three key elements in the status of citizenship: civil rights, political rights and social rights. Pinker traces the history of the often conflictual relationship between England and Ireland in order to address a gap in Marshall's theory of citizenship and welfare, rendering it open to criticism. He suggests that civil wars ‘are not fought over the conventional issues of social welfare. Ordinary people are not prepared to kill or be killed in the cause of better social services’.