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Consociationalism and Identity in Ethnically Divided Societies: Northern Ireland and Malaysia
Author(s) -
Jarrett Henry
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
studies in ethnicity and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.204
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1754-9469
pISSN - 1473-8481
DOI - 10.1111/sena.12209
Subject(s) - power sharing , salience (neuroscience) , ethnic group , political economy , politics , identity (music) , political science , ethnic conflict , independence (probability theory) , power (physics) , state (computer science) , collective identity , sociology , gender studies , law , psychology , statistics , physics , mathematics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , acoustics , computer science , cognitive psychology
This article tests the hypothesis that ethnic identities in divided societies lose their significance after the implementation of consociational power‐sharing arrangements. It analyses and compares the cases of Northern Ireland and Malaysia, as both have a substantially different experience of liberal consociationalism. In Northern Ireland, power sharing is strictly enforced through the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement of 1998, whilst in Malaysia it is exercised more informally within the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has governed the state since independence in 1957. Malaysia, therefore, has a considerably longer history of consociationalism than Northern Ireland. It is thought that if a mitigation of the salience of ethnic identities is taking place, ethnic political parties would become less prevalent. This article argues that these parties remain highly significant and, therefore, a shared identity is not being realized in either case. This conclusion does not, however, demonstrate a shortcoming of consociational theory but instead shows that managing conflict in divided societies is not the same as removing it altogether.