How the "Northern Irish" national identity is understood and used by young people and politicians

McNicholl, K, Stevenson, C ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2438-6425 and Garry, J, 2019. How the "Northern Irish" national identity is understood and used by young people and politicians. Political Psychology, 40 (3), pp. 487-505. ISSN 0162-895X

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Abstract

The conventional understanding of the nation within social psychology is as a category of people or "imagined community." However, work within the discursive tradition shows that citizens tend to discuss nationhood in a variety of modes, including the use of nonhuman categories such as references to the physical landscape of the country. This article aims to give a more comprehensive overview of how young people understand the Northern Irish identity, a new and potentially inclusive national category in a divided society, and how politicians articulate it in rhetoric. In Study 1, students (N = 286) discussed this identity in 44 peer‐led focus groups. Thematic analysis of their discussions shows four distinct ways in which it is constructed: as a distinctive people, as an identity claim, as a "hot" political project, and as a "cold" or banal indicator of place. In Study 2, Members of the Legislative Assembly at Stormont (N = 49) responded to open‐ended questions about the Northern Irish identity. Each of the parties used different conceptualizations for rhetorical effect. These results give a deeper understanding of the multifaceted nature of national identity and its ability to promote political agendas.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Political Psychology
Creators:	McNicholl, K., Stevenson, C. and Garry, J.
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell
Date:	June 2019
Volume:	40
Number:	3
ISSN:	0162-895X
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1111/pops.12523 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	11 Jul 2018 15:43
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2019 03:00
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/34059

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