COLLUSION

Mark McGovern*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter considers not only the record of collusion but what such extra-judicial violence says, more broadly, about the institutionalised coercive practices of the (post-)imperial, liberal-democratic state. After examining some of the issues raised by the role collusion have played as part of the legacy landscape, the chapter concludes by considering why collusion matters and what debates about its meaning tell us about struggles over memories of the Troubles today. State collusion with loyalist paramilitaries will also form the main focal point for this chapter. While the focus here is on collusion with loyalist armed organisations, it is important to recognise the significance and scale of state collusion with agents and informers operating within republican groups. Bottom-up collusion was moulded by the pervasiveness of these embedded sectarianised state-society relations. However, it is in the activities of state agents and informers operating within loyalist organisations, and the actions of their handlers, that allegations of top-down collusion are crystalised.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Handbook of the Northern Ireland Conflict and Peace
EditorsLaura McAtackney, Máirtín Ó Catháin
PublisherTaylor and Francis Inc.
Pages65-76
Number of pages12
ISBN (Electronic)9781000957730
ISBN (Print)9781032124001
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2023

Keywords

  • Humanities
  • Politics
  • International Relations
  • collusion
  • extra-judicial violence
  • legacy landscape
  • Troubles
  • Northern Ireland Troubles
  • Northern Ireland

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