The Politics of Legitimacy: Struggles in a Belfast Community

First published in 1978, The Politics of Legitimacy by Frank Burton examines the ideology and politics of the Provisional IRA through the socio-historical conditions of Northern Irish society. Drawing on an empirical investigation in the sociology of knowledge, Burton analyzes politicized violence broadly and focuses on one aspect of the Northern Ireland conflict in particular. His analysis is rooted in both an ethnographic study of a working-class Belfast community and theoretical traditions addressing social consciousness. Burton’s central thesis argues that the Provisional IRA’s ideology articulates the dominant categories of Northern Irish Catholic total ideology, which he defines through three interconnected elements: communalism, sectarianism, and republicanism. IRA ideology is framed as a politics of national liberation expressed through civil rights rhetoric, while the intensity of the Six County War is explained as a reflection of major ideological formations within the Catholic community. In the final chapter, Burton contrasts his analysis with press coverage and other political interpretations of the Northern Ireland conflict. This work serves as a vital historical reference for scholars and researchers of British, Irish, and political history.