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    ‘Seismic’ or stalemate? The (bio)politics of the 2021 Northern Ireland Census


    Coulter, Colin, Flaherty, Eoin and Shirlow, Peter (2023) ‘Seismic’ or stalemate? The (bio)politics of the 2021 Northern Ireland Census. Space and Polity, 27 (1). pp. 57-77. ISSN 1356-2576

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    Abstract

    This article provides a critical reading of the 2021 Census of Population in Northern Ireland. A close examination of the available data on religion and nationality leads us to suggest that the Census provides a distorted portrait of Northern Irish society in two crucial, and connected, senses. First, the operation of the Census creates incentives for many residents to identify in ethnoreligious terms who might not ordinarily do so. Second, the forms of inter-communal competition generated by the decennial poll serve to obscure the degree of cultural diversity that exists in an increasingly secular society.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Northern Ireland; Census; demography; secularisation; Good Friday Agreement;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
    Item ID: 18054
    Identification Number: 10.1080/13562576.2023.2260153
    Depositing User: Colin Coulter
    Date Deposited: 23 Jan 2024 12:10
    Journal or Publication Title: Space and Polity
    Publisher: Taylor & Francis
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mu.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/18054
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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