Nathalie Rougier - Böcker

The major socio-political changes of the last decades have led to changing ways of being national, changes in the content of national identity if not in the national categories themselves. This comparative social scientific volume takes examples of transitions to democracy (East Europe, Spain) to peace (South Africa, Israel, Northern Ireland) and to territorial decentralization (the United Kingdom, France, Spain), showing in each case how socio-political change and identity change have interlocked. It defines a typology of national identity shift, tracing the changing state forms which provoke national identity shift, and analyzing the process of identity change, its motivations and legitimations. Collecting together a wide range of examples, from South Africa to the Czech Republic from the Basque Country to the Mexican and Irish borders; the book brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, from world figures in the study of globalization and social identity to young researchers, to provide a much needed theoretical clarification and empirical evidence of types of national identity shift.

This book examines the treatment of cultural and religious diversity - indigenous and immigrant - on both sides of the Irish border in order to analyse the current state of tolerance and to consider the kinds of policies that may support integration while respecting diversity. The first two sections focus on the spheres of education, civic life and politics, including chapters on specific groups (e.g. travellers and immigrants), as well as on the communal divisions in Northern Ireland. Later chapters reflect on the Irish experience of diversity, and consider what may be the most appropriate approaches and discourses to deal with diversity, whether these involve tolerance, recognition or transformative reconciliation. This book will appeal to academics and students in sociology, politics, education, social psychology and Irish studies; it will also be of interest to general readers interested in society, education and politics in Ireland, North and South.