| ID | 111492 |
| Title Proper | Politics of conflict |
| Other Title Information | a constructivist critique of consociational and civil society theories |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Dixon, Paul |
| Publication | 2012. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This article presents a (critical realist) constructivist critique of both consociational and civil society/transformationist approaches and their crude understandings of politics and the prospects for political change. Consociationalism's primordialist or essentialist foundation leads it towards a world-weary, pessimistic, conservative realism about how far 'divided societies' may be transformed. Advocates of the civil society approach, in contrast, take an instrumentalist view of identity and are optimistic that a radical transformation can be achieved by mobilising the people against 'hard-line' political representatives. The constructivist approach can provide a framework in which a more complex and nuanced understanding of identities is possible. This better equips us for understanding the prospects of bringing about desirable political change. The first part of this article is a critique of Nagle and Clancy's consociationalism. The second part provides a brief outline of a constructivist critique of both the consociational and civil society understandings of politics and their contribution to understanding the politics of managing conflict. |
| `In' analytical Note | Nations and Nationalism Vol. 18, No.1; Jan 2012: p.98-121 |
| Journal Source | Nations and Nationalism Vol. 18, No.1; Jan 2012: p.98-121 |
| Key Words | Civil Society ; Consociationalism ; Constructivism ; Northern Ireland ; Politics ; Transformation |