The Northern Ireland Republican Movement and Counterpublic Construction, 1969–1976

Abstract

Mobilization of participants and supporters has long been problematic for social movements and those who study movements. This is especially the case for the Irish Republican movement in Northern Ireland, during the so-called “Troubles.” How did the Republican Movement, spearheaded by the IRA, maintained its armed struggle against British domination for thirty years with the strong support of the Catholic and Nationalist working-class minority? Despite a number of extant theories of mobilization in the social movement literature, a comprehensive systematic theory of community mobilization accounting for participant agency, multiple and factious groupings within movements, and the discursive basis of solidarity is elusive. This essay presents a framework for studying counterpublics, the subaltern, shadow communities of discourse, and institutions by which social movements of the excluded and oppressed are built, by analyzing the Northern Irish Republican counterpublic that became the foundation of the Republican movement.