This book examines the development of opposed Nationalist and Unionists identities as products of different economies, symbolically represented in religious differences, that impelled conflicting cultures and ideals of best interest that were fundamentally incompatible within a single identity.

This book engages with some of the most intractable political and social problems of the time - terrorism, ethnic and religious conflict. It reflects originality in urging the application of social theory - in particular Durkheim's lessons for the transformation of France into a unified enlightened nation after the Revolution - in approaching solutions to contemporary political violence. It also challenges conventional role of sociology.Ethno-national and religious identity and violence dominate modern politics, from Northern Ireland to terrorism in Sri Lanka, the former Yugoslavia or Afghanistan and Iraq. Sociology generally has made only a small contribution to the discussion. It is the contention here that sociology, particularly social theory, should be a major tool in helping explain national, religious and identity problems.

This book examines the development of opposed Nationalist and Unionists identities as products of different economies, symbolically represented in religious differences, that impelled conflicting cultures and ideals of best interest that were fundamentally incompatible within a single identity.

Ethno-national and religious identity and violence dominate modern politics, from Northern Ireland to terrorism in Sri Lanka, the former Yugoslavia or Afghanistan and Iraq. This book shows that social theory should be a major tool in helping explain national, religious and identity problems.