Religion, ethnicity and colonialism as explanations of the Northern Ireland conflict

摘要: Northern Ireland is not only a problem because of the conflict and lack political progress; it also about which theoretical questions can be asked for an explanatory framework sought. People have accordingly questions, from wide range disciplines, including economics, history, science, psychology, social anthropology sociology. Each these, furthermore, incorporates different tendencies schools thought. So there explanations on offer (for works reviewing these see Lijphard 1975, Martin 1982 Whyte 1990). What largely in common that they are very popular notions ‘religious’, ‘tribal’, mere gang-warfare driven by ‘hard men’, or other ways anachronistic, mindless merely reprehensible. Given well-known division between ‘Protestants’ ‘Catholics’ (terms will retained here widely used both within beyond Ireland), idea religious deserves careful consideration. It is, however, much minority view among sociologists, indeed participants, divide cause fount Protestant fears spring. The two examined propose divisions founded on, respectively, settler colonial history ethnic difference. These mutually exclusive.