ABSTRACT
Northern Ireland provides an illuminating example of the role of civil society in promoting non-violent responses to a protracted conflict involving both explicit political violence and structural injustices embedded in political institutions. This chapter examines non-violence as a distinctive category of political action that helps us understand the impact of civil society groups on peace and conflict in Northern Ireland, from the period known as “the Troubles” (1968–1998) to the challenges resulting from the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. It suggests that the impact of non-violent political action in Northern Ireland was limited by at least three factors: 1) tensions between civil resistance, political violence, and constitutional politics; 2) strategic ambiguity concerning the objectives of non-violent campaigns; and 3) the use of only a limited range of the methods of non-violent political action. Furthermore, the role of civil society evolved from one of direct confrontation with the state to a focus on community divisions and political dialogue. This was in response to escalating levels of violence and the intensification of sectarian divisions during the Troubles, but also reduced the capacity of civil society to operate independently using the methods of non-violent political action and civil resistance.
