Structural Identity Theory and the Post-Recruitment Activism of Irish Republicans: Persistence, Disengagement, Splits, and Dissidents in Social Movement Organizations

Abstract

This research adopts a structural identity theory framework to examine post-recruitment activism in the Irish Republican Movement. The data are from members of Provisional Sinn Fein who were first interviewed in the mid-1980s and subsequently reinterviewed in the mid-1990s and the late 2000s. Ten and 20 years after their initial interviews, some respondents were still involved in Provisional Sinn Fein while others had: helped create a rival organization, Republican Sinn Fein, in 1986; helped create another rival organization, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, in 1997; withdrawn from activism; and withdrawn from and then reentered activism. The interviews show that the decision to exit from activism was primarily motivated by changes in the respondents' personal lives and not for political reasons. For some respondents, life changes brought with them new relationships and new identities that limited their availability for activism and also forced respondents to choose between competing identities. The decision to remain an activist but to create a rival organization was influenced by interaction among subgroups of activists in Provisional Sinn Fein and by the respondents' perception of what is important for Irish Republicanism.