Martino Mazzoleni

The article aims to test Mario Diani’s definition of the novelty of social movements in the case of a political system lacking a shared legitimacy. A social movement should be considered ‘new’ not on the basis of the issues it addresses or the ideas it supports, but insofar as it shapes new solidarities and group belongings that break some traditional political cleavages. This conceptual framework is applied to the case of the civil rights mobilization of the Northern Irish minority in the 1960-70s. After outlining the premises, causes, and phases of the Catholics’ political protest, the article addresses the persistence of the social and political dualism in the province. As it is suggested, it is not easy to unambiguously identify the character of novelty of a social movement according to Diani’s scheme. In Northern Ireland, the various groups emerged to claim equal civil and political rights for Catholics have deeply altered the political arena and government’s agenda, but not modified the social bases of the political system. Rather, they have been channelled through the dominant ethno-religious cleavage, and brought about an exacerbation of the political conflict between the two communities, opening up the way for the extremes to mobilize.