Cultures of Terror and Resistance in Northern Ireland
Author(s)
Sluka, Jeff
Abstract
In Northern Ireland there exists a dialectic between a culture of terror-as represented by security forces, counterinsurgency operations, and the violence of Loyalist extremists-and a culture of resistance. This essay explores how Northern Ireland’s current, ruptured political state reflects each of the constitutive aspects of a culture of terror as defined by Michael Taussig. The fit between Taussig’s definition and the character of domination in Northern Ireland is striking, as is the fact that out of this culture of terror has emerged an equally identifiable culture of resistance. James Scott’s concept of a culture of resistance provides a basis for analyzing how resistance is no longer a purely political phenomenon in the Catholic ghettos of Northern Ireland. Rather, resistance has become culturally institutionalized, a part of the everyday lives of the Catholic working class.
