Social Movement De-Radicalisation and the Decline of Terrorism: The Morphogenesis of the Irish Republican Movement by Gordon Clubb

Author:Gordon Clubb [Clubb, Gordon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ireland, Europe, Political Science, Political Freedom, History, Terrorism
ISBN: 9781317390749
Google: 7BYxDQAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 32512674
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

De-radicalisation: nuanced frames

The conceptual discussion on de-radicalisation has primarily focused on two types of attitudinal change that drives disengagement: a group may disengage for tactical reasons or it may disengage because it no longer views violence as legitimate. The Provisional IRA has been portrayed as a case of the former, and this is significant in wider debates because the type of disengagement can inform counter-terrorism strategies. Just as the disengagement process is internally constructed within a group, the state also plays a role in constructing it but often with inaccurate knowledge of intentions: thus, if a state makes too high demands or misinterprets the type of disengagement, the consequences can be high. The book would contend that, in part, John Major’s government’s inability to align its disengagement frame (how it perceives how the Provisional IRA should end) with that of the Provisional IRA’s frame, was a significant factor in the peace process stalling and collapsing in 1996. Likewise, Israel’s unrealistic demands that Fatah-PLO’s disengagement should take on an unconditional disengagement framing aspect raised expectations that could not be met.115 Therefore, defining the type of disengagement has serious consequences as it is through creating a mutually shared understanding of what the process should entail that it can be successful.

The implications of the mainstream argument with regard to the Provisional IRA is that attitudinal change was not important for successful disengagement as negotiations, incentives and repression were sufficient in changing behaviour. However, despite appearances, the Provisional IRA’s disengagement in 1994 was significantly different from other forms of tactical disengagement. Conditional disengagement framing can be problematic as it will often lead to mixed signals with regard to the de-legitimisation of violence, but the very logic of it will lead members to de-legitimise it themselves, particularly once the conditions are strengthened. Therefore, state demands for the group to de-legitimise violence or to disarm can be counter-productive, particularly if the conditions have not been achieved. The conditions in this type of disengagement frame will often vary, but for the Provisional IRA these were regarding a new political system that included them through negotiations, and in these (at the time) imagined conditions, armed struggle would be illegitimate. Thus, the analysis of disengagement has been driven by three types of frames which challenge assumptions made in the literature by emphasising the importance of de-radicalisation that exists somewhere in-between tactical considerations for ending violence and ‘genuine’ opposition to violence.

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