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parkhead_rfb · Getting on a bit! Joined: 13 Oct 2005 Posts: 1974

wrote this essay myself, hopefully it will be an interesting read.

Are social movements effective in challenging global inequalities?

The word terrorism is very much a subjective term. It has been famously said that one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter and there have been numerous examples of this throught the world i.e. Che Guevara or Nelson Mandela. The definitions of what is terrorism then can be broad. But can, what may be classed as, terrorism be considered a social movement? And if so how effective are they in challenging what their members and supporters see as inequalities in their situation as it is the existence of inequalities, real or imagined, which invariably lead to conflict. Perhaps three good examples of this type of social movement then are in Ireland the PIRA, in the Basque ETA and in Palestine the PLO. But what are the arguments for these organizations even being considered social movements?

In general terms it can be said that a social movement is a group of individuals who understand themselves to have common interests and in some sense a common identity furthermore, social movements are distinguished from political parties and pressure groups in that they have mass social mobilization as their main source of power. Social movements are also distinguished from voluntary associations and clubs in that the social movements aim is to change or defend society or the position of a group in society. So can it be said then that these organizations can be considered social movements? It does seem that the answer to this question is yes. Although it can be said that society in general would term these organizations as ‘terrorist’ they do seem to fit the criteria as a social movement in that there aims are to change society and have mass mobilization as one of their main or thee main source of power, although as these groups can be termed as nationalist organizations perhaps the common interests and common identity are the most important factors within these organizations. Members of these organizations, however, can be heard to argue that as well as these other factors, what they perceived as inequalities in society lead to them supporting such groups as they believed such inequalities would be challenged by them. But how successful have these organizations been in challenging global inequalities? To answer this question we must first look at each group in turn starting with the background to the situation which lead to their formation, the inequalities which lead to their formation, how they set about tackling such inequalities and finally how successful they have been in combating these?

In contemporary terms the source of ‘the troubles’ can be traced back to the partition of 1922 when 26 of Irelands 32 counties were transferred to the control of the new Irish Republic where as 6 of the nine counties from the province of Ulster remained under British control due to the fact that they contained a majority of Unionists, generally of the protestant faith, although they did also contain a significant minority of nationalists, around a third of the population, who were generally of the Roman catholic faith (Coogan, 2000). This then led to nationalists being treated unequally in terms of housing (A survey in Dungannon found that in terms of new housing allocations 71% had went to protestants where as only 28.9% had went to Catholics) and employment with nationalists facing significantly higher rates of unemployment than their protestant neighbours (Harland and Wolff shipyards being an example of this with less than 100 workers being catholic out of a total of over 10, 000) (Coogan, 2000). The catholic population of the six counties also faced a problem, in that the police force of the north, the RUC, were predominantly from protestant/unionist backgrounds, with Catholics accounting for around 12% of the total force, and were seen as upholding the unionist domination of the six counties, although the auxiliary police force, the B specials, were even more vehemently hated by Catholics perhaps with good reason given that due to their actions they were disbanded by the British prime minister in 1970. By 1969 then there was a powder keg atmosphere in the six counties with nationalists, inspired by events in America, agitating for civil rights and unionists attempting to sustain their domination. By the end of 1969 the RUC were no longer able to contain the situation in the north, powers were transferred back to Westminster and the British army were deployed to the streets of the cities and towns to assist the RUC and, in the eyes of nationalists, to uphold unionist domination. It was at this time that the IRA, who had been caught cold in 1969, began to grow and eventually split into the new and more aggressive Provos (PIRA) and those who remained (the officials). There have of course been several events since then which have contributed to the growth of the PIRA such as internment without trial, stop and search policies, use of plastic bullets, bloody Sunday, loyalist violence and the recently proven collusion between British security forces and the mostly sectarian violence of Loyalist paramilitaries. How then have the PIRA set out to combat these inequalities?

In terms of military power the PIRA were fully aware of the fact that they could not In essence defeat the might of the British army, what they felt they could achieve, however, was the formation of a situation where through a combination of economic bombs, assassinations and direct action against police and armed forces the British would eventually leave willingly. What does not appear to be accurate, however, is the widely held mainstream view that the PIRA were fighting a sectarian war when in fact sectarian the only blatantly sectarian attack which can be pointed to occurred at Kingsmill, in response to loyalist violence in the area. In 1981, however, with the election of PIRA prisoner Bobby sands in a by election the republican ethos changed to what has been termed ‘the ballot box and armalite strategy’ where not only would PIRA supporters resist British rule military but also politically through the Provos political allies, Sinn Fein. But how successful have these actions been in terms of tackling inequalities?

In 2004 it can be argued that things haven’t significantly improved for the Catholic population in the six counties. Residents of interface areas such as the Short strand, a small Catholic enclave in predominantly Loyalist East Belfast, still claim to be under attack, Catholics still remain disproportionately represented in unemployment figures at 56.1% (figures from www.nisra.gov), policing is still a contentious issue with Catholic communities claiming police bias still exists against them. But what, if any, inequalities have been challenged in the six counties? Perhaps the most visible sign of improvement in the six counties has been the vastly reduced level of violence which as well as seeing loyalist violence against Catholics decrease has also seen an improvement in the general environment of Catholic areas which also tended to suffer from republican violence (Heatley, 2003), Catholic school leavers are also reaching equality in the level of results achieved at school (which was not the case in the past) and it can be argued eventually this will translate into employment equality (www.nisra.gov) and Catholics now rate the work the housing executive does for them more favorably than their Protestant counterparts (www.nisra.gov). In terms of the PIRA’s overall goal of a united Ireland there is a case that the changing demographics of the six counties which should eventually see Catholics outnumber Protestants will lead to a majority voting for nationalist parties and under the terms of the GFA a subsequent British withdrawal although it is up for debate just how much of the changes in the six counties are due to the actions of groups like the PIRA. But what have the effects of ‘terrorism’ been on other parts of the world?

The Basque region of Southern France and Northern Spain is a culturally and linguistically distinct part of the world which although it nationalists who may have been against the fact that they were not totally independent perhaps accepted its situation. The dictatorship of General Franco, however, was to change this when in 1959, young activists angered by the suppression of the Basque language and culture started the ideologically Marxist ETA, which translates as Basque homeland and liberty. Although with the death of Franco and the restoration of democracy in Spain the Basque was given its own parliament with powers over areas such as education and taxes along with the promotion of the Basque language this was not enough for some nationalists who see full independence as the only option. It is also argued by Basque nationalists, however, that the suppression of Basque nationalism continues today. By outlawing Batasuna, the party which although denies being the political wing of ETA is closely linked, and its newspaper Basque nationalists would argue that there democratic rights have been removed. Nationalists also point to the actions of GLA, a shadowy government organisation which has said to have assassinated ETA members, the treatment of ETA prisoners who are moved far away from their families and voice claims of torture by prison authorities and the suppression of the vibrant Basque youth movements as fuelling the sense of injustice felt in the Basque. How then does ETA set about combating these perceived inequalities?

Like many other ‘terrorist’ organizations ETA undertakes the use of economic bombings, car bombs and assassinations with the use of extortion kidnappings robberies etc to fund its operations. Membership of ETA is said to be relatively low with perhaps 20 hard core activists with around a hundred supporters. Since its formation ETA has been blamed for over 1,000 deaths (www.ict.org.il). ETA’s use of these tactics is in many ways similar to that of the PIRA, whom it has also been suggested have helped ETA carry out attacks, in that although they cannot expect to gain their homeland by force alone they hope to make the Spanish and French government’s situation so difficult that they give full autonomy willingly. But how successful have these tactics been?

In terms of the situation in the Basque nothing seems to have changed. Although, inspired by events in the north of Ireland, ETA did call a cease fire in 1998 the effects of which though were to be short lived as just 14 months later the cease fire was called off and no significant steps had been taken. It does seem then that at present ETA has neither the political support, given that Batasuna commands only 10% of the Basques voters, and does not have the military power to tackle the inequalities it perceives. Social movements such as the PIRA and ETA are not of course confined only to Europe, in the Middle East there is a conflict currently raging which threatens the stability of the region and at the heart of the conflict is the organization, the PLO.

The Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East has been explained simply as being over “A land of two peoples” (Fraser, 1995 pg1). This statement, however, does not nearly cover the intricacies of the conflict although in terms of the inequalities prevalent within the conflict we can perhaps look towards the formation of the state of Israel and the ensuing Arab-Israeli war as a foundation. The end of the British mandate over Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel created a situation which the Arabs were never going to find acceptable, the effects of this then were those of the 1948-49 war which saw Israel not only victories but gaining further land than they had previously under partition. The effects for the Palestinians, however, were far more drastic. The war had left Palestinian society ravaged, their political hopes in ruins, large sections of their population in Israel; the Gaza strip had become synonymous with poverty, as the indigenous population had become separated from their farmlands and UN estimates place the number of refugees at the time at 750, 000. The following ‘six day war’ between Israel and the Arab nations was to further embed feelings of injustice within Palestinian communities as Israel had seized further territories including the Gaza strip and the West Bank (www.wikipedia.org). Palestinians were further angered during the late 1970’s when, after the failed attempts by Arab nations in 1973 to regain the land they lost in 1967, Israel began to build Jewish settlements on what they saw as their land especially considering that although the settlements are open to all Jews Palestinians are forbidden from living there. In 2000 Palestinians were to be further angered when wide spread rioting broke out due to Ariel Sharons statement that Jerusalem would be eternal Israeli territory, several Palestinians including a 12 year old boy were killed suppressing them. It is of course this occupation which is still at the heart of the conflict today with the Palestinian people unhappy over the building of Israeli outposts, the building of further settlements and the various Israeli military attacks which although Israel claims are targeted at known ‘terrorists’ invariably result in civilian casualties and the worsening of conditions for the Palestinian people. Palestinians living within Israel also claim To be discriminated against in areas such as employment as in many cases past service in the Israeli army is required. But how does the PLO set about tackling these inequalities?

Formed in 1964 by a collection of refugee groups, Palestinians and with the aid of Arab states the PLO is seen as the leading organization of the Palestinian people with the UN recognizing them as such in 1974. The PLO is an umbrella group of nationalist Palestinian organizations such as Al Fatah and the popular front for the liberation of Palestine. Criticisms of the PLO as being a terrorist organization have come from the fact that they carry out not only guerilla war tactics on Israeli armed forces but have also been known to carry out attacks on civilians. The PLO has also been accused of doing little to combat the actions of groups such as Hamas who use the tactic of suicide bombings which can lead to vast civilian casualties. It can not be said, however, that the PLO have only taken military action against Israel, as they have also been at the heart of agreements such as the Oslo agreement of 1993 which gave Palestinian autonomy in some areas and civilian, whilst Israel kept military control, in others. But how successful has the PLO been?

In terms of resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict we are no closer than in 1948. Groups such as Hamas still continue to attack Israeli civilians and the Israeli government continues to retaliate to this with military action and occupation, although it could be argued that the retaliation is the other way around. The much heralded road map to peace has also stalled with Israel unwilling to deal with the Palestinians until the violence stops and the Palestinians claiming that an end to the occupation and settlement building must come before an end to the violence can be expected. It does seem then that Palestinian claims of inequalities will continue unless the recent death of previous PLO leader Yassar Arafat, who Israel were unwilling to trust, can bring about a new era in the politics of the region.

So how successful then can these social movements be considered to be when tackling global inequalities? When dealing with so-called terrorist organizations it seems that there can be no easy answers to any of the questions surrounding them, with even the definition of terrorism up for debate. The actions of such groups it can be argued bring attention to the problems their people face and in many ways force those whom they see as oppressing them to deal with the problems they are seen to have caused as well as putting international pressure on their enemies to deal with the situation, such as Bill Clintons interest in the GFA, and can through time weaken their enemies political and economic will to fight them. There is also evidence, however, that such an approach can also lead to a government hardening its stance such as Thatcher’s approach to the PIRA in the 1980’s and Sharons approach to the PLO. Overall then it seems that there can be no straight answer to the question of are social movements effective in challenging global inequalities as the effectiveness depends on many factors including the movement its self i.e. its strengths and weaknesses, and outside factors such as the stance their enemies take, how easy it is to achieve a solution to the inequalities and any other external pressures such as the international political climate

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"our revenge will be the laughter of our children" bobby sands MP

"there is no equality in a society that stands upon the political and economic bog, if only the strongest make it good or survive" bobby sands MP

trueblue · Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:50 pm Post subject:

cliched. boring.not well constructed. VERY cliched.
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**sig. edited by admin

parkhead_rfb · Getting on a bit! Joined: 13 Oct 2005 Posts: 1974

was good enough for a first class mark Wink

but would you like to elaborate?
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"our revenge will be the laughter of our children" bobby sands MP

"there is no equality in a society that stands upon the political and economic bog, if only the strongest make it good or survive" bobby sands MP

Rinty · Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:57 pm Post subject: u

parkhead_rfb · Getting on a bit! Joined: 13 Oct 2005 Posts: 1974

for me they are similar in that both have seen wars for self determination against a much larger and powerfull power. as well as this the people of these movements have suffered oppresion. for the purposes of the essay though it was to do with the fact that the three could be compared in terms of social movements.
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"our revenge will be the laughter of our children" bobby sands MP

"there is no equality in a society that stands upon the political and economic bog, if only the strongest make it good or survive" bobby sands MP

Rinty · Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 6:23 pm Post subject: home

Wouldn't you say that it was home rule and then subsequently re-unification that was the social movement in Ireland and the IRA were just a part of that or a faction within it?

Would you consider Zionism amd the creation of the Israeli state as a social movement?

parkhead_rfb · Getting on a bit! Joined: 13 Oct 2005 Posts: 1974

yes you could say that but by definition the ira were a social movement, that doesnt mean that they werent part of a wider social movement. i suppose it could be said that the creation of zionism and israel are social movements
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"our revenge will be the laughter of our children" bobby sands MP

"there is no equality in a society that stands upon the political and economic bog, if only the strongest make it good or survive" bobby sands MP

azzuri · 'Our Scotland' Fossil Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 3771

The IRA were essentially a reactionary movement in NI from the 60's onwards.

The support for them grew simply because of the rabid discrimination against catholics - I'm not entirely sure they would have grown to such prominence if catholics hadn't been treated as second class citizens.
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trueblue · Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 11:12 pm Post subject:

Leathlaobhair · Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 12:11 am Post subject:

Rinty · Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 7:37 am Post subject: t

trueblue · Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 7:35 pm Post subject:

loads of spec colours in here.
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**sig. edited by admin