Religion and Political Change in Northern Ireland

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Abstract
Studies conducted in industrial societies generally suggest that partisans of social change are unlikely to be religiously oriented, whereas research in Third World countries demonstrates a common tendency for demands for change to be linked with religious ideologies. This paper reports on the relationship between religion and social change as reflected in the development of a social movement in Northern Ireland, a partially modernized society. The members of this movement are shown to be strikingly disaffiliated from religion. It is suggested that this lack of religious identity may be a key factor in explaining the group's inability to secure mass support. Some generalizations concerning the relationship between religion and social change in societies of this sort are tentatively proposed.

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