Orange parades in Northern Ireland: impacting ‘the life of the community’

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

Abstract

This chapter explores a particular form of assembly, Orange parades in Northern Ireland. Taking an anthropological approach to ritual events and using an ethnographic methodology, the chapter examines the structure of the ritual ‘Orange’ processions and the complex understandings of participation held by different individual participants and constitutive groups. It highlights the complexities in understanding who is participating in the events, why they participate, and the tension this presents for the State in facilitating the assemblies. In particular, it identifies the impact of these ‘traditional’ parades on broader group identities highlighting the labour of representation sustaining understandings of ‘community’ and the consequence this has for the regulation of events. Given the role played by these parades in ethnic identity politics, and the defence of a particular group’s ‘traditions’ and ‘cultural heritage’, tensions around the duty of the State to facilitate freedom of assembly become particularly apparent, even acute. The chapter concludes that placing restrictions based upon judging the impact upon ‘the community’, as required by the Public Processions Act, is hampered by the difficulty in defining what ‘community’ might mean. The role of parades and protests in such a divided society as Northern Ireland asks the most acute questions about the facilitation of freedom of assembly.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford handbook of peaceful public assembly
EditorsTabatha Abu El-Haj, Michael Hamilton, Thomas Probert, Sharath Srinivasan
PublisherOxford University Press
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)9780197674901
ISBN (Print)9780197674871
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Mar 2024

Publication series

NameOxford Handbooks
PublisherOxford University Press
ISSN (Print)9767-4871
ISSN (Electronic)9767-4901

Keywords

  • Parade
  • ritual
  • symbol
  • procession
  • freedom of assembly
  • Northern Ireland
  • Orange Order

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