Securitization in Divided Societies. Fear of Others in Northern Irish Political Discourses?

Situated at the interplay between the field of ethnic politics, migration and security studies, this paper analyzes processes of securitization in Northern Ireland. Characterized by consociational power-sharing institutions, the country is without a government since 2017 and is currently addressing the ongoing developments of Brexit. Meanwhile since the Good Friday Agreement the arrival of several thousands of migrants from abroad have brought more complexity to the country. Thereby, Northern Ireland epitomizes, once again, the problems of divided societies and the challenges posed by the presence of competing nationalisms in multinational and always more diversified countries. This paper applies the concept of securitization to analyze how different nationalist conceptions and narratives in Northern Ireland deal with the issue of diversity. Understanding securitization as a speech act through which an issue is considered as an existential threat, I explore whether, how and in what terms the presence of “others” and diverse communities in Northern Ireland are the target of securitizing moves in political discourses and thereby are perceived as a danger to society. Beyond Kymlicka’s dichotomy between polyethnic groups and national minorities, the analysis ranges through different forms of diversity, investigating securitizing moves vis-à-vis both the historical divisions that characterized Northern Ireland as well as the presence of new communities deriving from recent migratory flows. I use a qualitative methodology, analyzing securitizing discourses as emerged in political party programs of all the political forces that won seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2017 and/or in previous elections, looking at the evolution and transformation of such securitizing discourses since the Good Friday Agreement. In this way, the paper aims at bringing to light the different conceptions and narratives that characterize Northern Ireland concerning the divisions and relationship among its communities and their perceptions of threat and security. Beyond the common dichotomy “unionist” and “nationalist,” the analysis highlights how distinct forms of securitizing discourses have emerged and evolved, thereby shedding new insights on the status of peace (or tensions) in Northern Ireland.