The Irish Civil War and Society : Politics, Class, and Conflict

The Irish Civil War and Society sheds new light on the social currents shaping the Irish Civil War, from the 'politics of respectability' behind animosities and discourses; to the intersection of social conflicts with political violence; to the social dimensions of the war's messy aftermath. Gavin Foster re-conceptualizes class debates around the Irish Civil War (1922-3), exploring the social dimensions of the bitter conflict from fresh angles that highlight the rival social outlooks, interests, and conflicts that ruptured nationalist solidarity at the end of the Irish Revolution. Putting aside traditional class conflict models and quantitative socio-economic methods, Foster uniquely emphasizes social status as a key area of friction and contestation between supporters and opponents of the Irish Free State that informed partisan discourses, animosities and outlooks. His analysis of these 'politics of respectability' includes an innovative chapter on the partisan meanings of clothing and lifestyle practices, while he also complicates traditional narratives of the civil war by showing the pervasive and intimate blurring of republican insurgency with social conflicts over land, labour, and state authority. Chapters on the understudied aftermath of the civil war illuminate the political and social pressures that forced many IRA veterans to emigrate, an important revolutionary outcome that helped cement the conservative post-revolutionary settlement Gavin Foster re-conceptualizes class debates around the Irish Civil War (1922-3), exploring the social dimensions of the bitter conflict from fresh angles that highlight the rival social outlooks, interests, and conflicts that ruptured nationalist solidarity at the end of the Irish Revolution. Putting aside traditional class conflict models and quantitative socio-economic methods, Foster uniquely emphasizes social status as a key area of friction and contestation between supporters and opponents of the Irish Free State that informed partisan discourses, animosities and outlooks. His analysis of these 'politics of respectability' includes an innovative chapter on the partisan meanings of clothing and lifestyle practices, while he also complicates traditional narratives of the civil war by showing the pervasive and intimate blurring of republican insurgency with social conflicts over land, labour, and state authority. Chapters on the understudied aftermath of the civil war illuminate the political and social pressures that forced many IRA veterans to emigrate, an important revolutionary outcome that helped cement the conservative post-revolutionary settlement.-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xi Re-approaching the Social Dimensions of the Irish Civil War....Pages 1-21 Pro-Treaty Social Attitudes and Perceptions of Republicans....Pages 22-51 Republican Social Attitudes and Perceptions of the Free State....Pages 52-82 Social and Political Meanings of Clothing Pre- to Post-Revolution....Pages 83-116 The Varieties of Social Conflict in the Civil War....Pages 117-141 State Repression in the Civil War’s Aftermath....Pages 142-171 Winners and Losers: Financial Victimization and the Economics of Animosity after the Civil War....Pages 172-202 IRA Emigration and the Social Outcomes of the Civil War....Pages 203-221 Epilogue....Pages 222-227 Back Matter....Pages 228-315