Migration and partisan identification as British Unionists or Irish Nationalists in Northern Ireland

Tools

Bjarnason, T., Shuttleworth, I., Stevenson, C. ORCID: 0000-0002-2438-6425 and Finell, E., 2022. Migration and partisan identification as British Unionists or Irish Nationalists in Northern Ireland. Acta Sociologica. ISSN 0001-6993 (Forthcoming)

Text
1591722_Stevenson.pdf - Post-print
Restricted to Repository staff only
Download (471kB)

Abstract

The notion that mobility weakens collective norms and increases tolerance has a long pedigree in sociology. In this paper, we examine the association of migration with partisan identification as British Unionists or Irish Nationalists in Northern Ireland, a region where the overlap of opposing religious and national identities is reflected in the residential segregation of its population. In representative samples of the population, we find that Irish Nationalist identification among Catholics and British Unionist identification among Protestants was lower among people not born in Northern Ireland and return migrants from beyond the British Isles. Having lived in the Republic was associated with more Nationalist identification among Catholics but less Unionist identification among Protestants and other. Moreover, having lapsed from the family religion is associated with decreased partisan identification. While international migration has in many countries lead to increased tensions, conflict and the ascendance of exclusionary national populist movements, our results thus suggest that mobility beyond the British Isles has contributed to less nation-state conflict in Northern Ireland.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

Acta Sociologica

Creators:

Bjarnason, T., Shuttleworth, I., Stevenson, C. and Finell, E.

Publisher:

SAGE Publications

Date:

11 August 2022

ISSN:

0001-6993