Citation

Pinker R. Twenty-First Century Society 2006; 1(1): 23-38.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/17450140600680121

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since the time of T.H. Marshall, the concept of citizenship has held a position of central significance in the study of social policy, notably with regard to the evolution of civil, political and social rights and duties. Less attention has been given to the association of citizenship with the growth of national consciousness and issues of national and cultural identity. Most social policy theories about the relationship between citizenship and welfare take the existence of a shared sense of national identity under conditions of peace for granted. The few social theorists who have written about the impact of war on the growth of civil, political and social rights have tended to concentrate on wars between sovereign states. Much less has been written about the significance of civil wars within sovereign states. Conflicts about land, sovereignty and national identity are the most frequent causes of these internal conflicts. This paper explores the extent to which the onset of civil war reverses the direction in which Marshall hypothesised that the civil, political and social rights of citizenship developed under conditions of peace, taking the examples of Ireland and Northern Ireland for illustrative purposes.