ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that political documents and initiatives produced by loyalist groups during the Troubles were frequently more dynamic, forward-thinking, and conciliatory than those produced by established unionist political parties and their leaders. It is worth challenging the tendency by focusing on political thinking within loyalist paramilitary groups during the Troubles, especially as it emerged from, and around, the two largest paramilitary groups: the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association. Normally explained as a general loyalist objection to Catholics in government and the Council of Ireland, the UWC strike's social class dimensions, reflecting divisions in unionism, are often downplayed. Even if loyalists did not follow through on the power displayed in 1974, the UWC strike did usher in a new phase in that incredibly ambivalent, fractious relationship, which has existed between the paramilitaries and unionist politicians.
