University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2014-09-29 Nationalist Violence and Terrorism: the Cases of Northern Ireland and Wales Compared Parkinson, Mitchell Parkinson, M. (2014). Nationalist Violence and Terrorism: the Cases of Northern Ireland and Wales Compared (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27060 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/1847 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Nationalist Violence and Terrorism: The Cases of Northern Ireland and Wales Compared by Mitchell Parkinson A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN POLITICAL SCIENCE CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2014 © Mitchell Parkinson 2014 Abstract This thesis examines the relationship between nationalism and violence, asking the question: why are some stateless nationalist movements largely nonviolent while others produce violence and terrorism against a state or other ethnonational groups in pursuit of their goals? To answer this, I compare the cases of Northern Ireland and Wales in the 1960s-1980s, when both countries experienced waves of nationalist violence but with Northern Ireland’s violence far surpassing that of Wales in its intensity, frequency and casualties produced and with Welsh nationalist violence finding little support from the broader population. I first examine the development of nationalist identity in each country and then utilize Jeffrey Ross’s model of structural causes of terrorism to compare the violence in each case. I find that several structural factors including strength of nationalist identity were present to a far greater degree in Northern Ireland than in Wales. ii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the support of my supervisor, Dr. Gavin Cameron, for his patience and understanding over the past two years. His advice and guidance helped me to narrow and focus my ambitions to something that could fit within a hundred-page MA thesis while also preventing the content of the work from getting sidetracked by less-relevant details. His familiarity with the cases of Northern Ireland and Wales also helped ensure that I had my facts and chronologies as accurate as possible. I would also like to acknowledge the financial support of the Department of Political Science and the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Calgary as well as that of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The patience of the department as my thesis extended into my third year is something for which I will be forever grateful. Third, a big thank you to Dr. Maureen Hiebert of the Department of Political Science and Dr. Warren Elofson for agreeing to take the time from your busy schedules and sit on my committee, in September at the beginning of the school year, no less. Finally, my parents have done their best to offer their moral and financial support when needed, and it has been a long three years for them to experience with only short annual visits from their son living on the other side of the country. I hope to do them proud. iii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW ..............................1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................1 1.2 Defining the “Nation” and “Nationalism” .................................................................1 1.3 Two competing paradigms of nationalism studies ....................................................3 1.4 Literature on Terrorism and Political Violence .........................................................9 1.5 Nationalism and Violence: Literature ......................................................................18 1.6 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................22 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY ..............................................................................23 2.1 Research question and cases considered ..................................................................23 2.2 Conceptual framework .............................................................................................25 2.3 Chapter Outline and Hypothesis ..............................................................................28 CHAPTER THREE: EXPLORING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONALIST IDEOLOGY ..............................................................................................................30 3.1 Overview of Irish and Welsh premodern history .....................................................30 3.1.1 Ireland ..............................................................................................................30 3.1.2 Wales ...............................................................................................................36 3.2 Nationalist (re)awakenings in the 19th and 20th centuries ........................................41 3.2.1 Ireland ..............................................................................................................41 3.2.2 Wales ...............................................................................................................48 3.3 Ethnosymbolic analysis of national identity formation ...........................................51 3.4 Conclusions ..............................................................................................................57 CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYZING THE CAUSES AND DRIVERS OF NATIONALIST VIOLENCE...............................................................................................................59 4.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................59 4.2 Political violence and terrorism from the 1960s-1980s ...........................................59 4.2.1 Ireland: the IRA and The Troubles ..................................................................59 4.2.2 Wales: sabotage and arson ...............................................................................62 4.3 Ross's model of structural causes of terrorism.........................................................64 4.3.1 Permissive causes ............................................................................................64 4.3.1.1 Geographical location ............................................................................64 4.3.1.2 Political system type ..............................................................................65 4.3.1.3 Level of modernization ..........................................................................67 4.3.2 Precipitant causes ............................................................................................68 4.3.2.1 Social, cultural and historical facilitation ..............................................68 4.3.2.2 Organizational split and development ...................................................72 4.3.2.3 Presence of other forms of unrest ..........................................................73 4.3.2.4 Support ...................................................................................................75 4.3.2.5 Counterterrorist organizational failure ...................................................78 iv 4.3.2.6 Availability of weapons and explosives ................................................82 4.3.2.7 Grievances .............................................................................................83 4.4 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................85 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION....................................................................................88 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................94 v Chapter One: Introduction and Literature Review 1.1 Introduction This thesis asks the question: why are some stateless nationalist movements largely nonviolent while others produce violence and terrorism against a state or other ethnonational groups in pursuit of their goals? Another way to phrase this is to ask whether nationalist movements are inherently violent or if the existence of a nationalist ideology necessarily leads to violence. To explore this question, this thesis will examine the cases of Northern Ireland and Wales, focusing on the 1960s-1980s when both countries experienced nationalist agitation and unrest that, in the former case, frequently manifested itself violently and, in the latter case, produced only small-scale incidents of violence that