Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

From ‘former comrades’ to ‘near enemy’ : the narrative template of ‘armed struggle’ and conflicting discourses on violent dissident Irish republican activity (VDR)

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Hearty, Kevin (2016) From ‘former comrades’ to ‘near enemy’ : the narrative template of ‘armed struggle’ and conflicting discourses on violent dissident Irish republican activity (VDR). Critical Studies on Terrorism, 9 (2). 269-291 . doi:10.1080/17539153.2016.1154305 ISSN 1753-9153.

[img]
Preview
PDF
WRAP_1471718-la-010316-cst_2ndmaintext.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer.

Download (852Kb) | Preview
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2016.1154305

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

This article critically evaluates how competing discourses on what has been labelled Violent Dissident Republican activity (VDR) can be mapped onto pre-existing narrative templates on “armed struggle” that have featured in internal Irish republican politicking for generations. As such, this article conducts an in-depth dissection of how competing narratives on the utility of VDR, the scale of and support for VDR, and the underlying motivations behind it have drawn neatly from pre-existing scripts adroitly constructed during many of the previous splits within that constituency. In looking beyond the mere rhetorical value of respective discourses, it interrogates the political value in adapting past narratives for present consumption in an increasingly fragmented constituency where the gulf between the pragmatic and the pure has immeasurably widened in recent years. Drawing out narratives of pragmatism and purity, of the “micro-group”, “felon setting” and the “near enemy”, the article establishes how these narratives are vitally important to the parent group as it tries to maintain its dominance while embracing constitutional politics and, equally vital to the breakaway group, as it seeks to justify its very existence in a rapidly changing political context where there is ever-decreasing communal appetite for “armed struggle”.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe)
U Military Science > U Military Science (General)
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Irish Republican Army--History, Provisional IRA--History, Real IRA--History, Sinn Fein--History, Republicanism--Ireland--History--20th century, Political violence--Ireland--History--20th century, Guerrilla warfare--Ireland--History--20th century, Political violence--Northern Ireland, Ireland--History, Military--20th century, Ireland--History--20th century, Northern Ireland--History
Journal or Publication Title: Critical Studies on Terrorism
Publisher: Routledge
ISSN: 1753-9153
Official Date: 12 April 2016
Dates:
DateEvent
12 April 2016Published
13 January 2016Accepted
Volume: 9
Number: 2
Page Range: 269-291
DOI: 10.1080/17539153.2016.1154305
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit: 8 March 2016
Date of first compliant Open Access: 12 October 2017
Funder: Northern Ireland. Department of Employment and Learning

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us