Indivisible Territory and the Politics of Legitimacy
Jerusalem and Northern Ireland

This book challenges the conventional wisdom that territorial conflicts in Jerusalem and Northern Ireland were inevitable.

Stacie E. Goddard (Author)

9780521439855, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 September 2009

304 pages, 4 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.5 cm, 0.55 kg

'I find Goddard's theory about the construction of indivisible territory very convincing. Its major strength lies in bridging the gap between rational choice and constructivist theories by managing to deal with values and identity while taking into account the element of agency … I think it gives an important contribution to the debate about ethnic conflicts and their solutions. Nations and Nationalism

In Jerusalem and Northern Ireland, territorial disputes have often seemed indivisible, unable to be solved through negotiation, and prone to violence and war. This book challenges the conventional wisdom that these conflicts were the inevitable result of clashing identities, religions, and attachments to the land. On the contrary, it was radical political rhetoric, and not ancient hatreds, that rendered these territories indivisible. Stacie Goddard traces the roots of territorial indivisibility to politicians' strategies for legitimating their claims to territory. When bargaining over territory, politicians utilize rhetoric to appeal to their domestic audiences and undercut the claims of their opponents. However, this strategy has unintended consequences; by resonating with some coalitions and appearing unacceptable to others, politicians' rhetoric can lock them into positions in which they are unable to recognize the legitimacy of their opponent's demands. As a result, politicians come to negotiations with incompatible claims, constructing territory as indivisible.

1. Introduction
2. Constructing indivisibility: a legitimation theory of indivisible territory
Part I. Constructing an Indivisible Ireland: 3. Home rule: a divisible Ireland
4. Ulster will fight: the orange card and an indivisible Ireland
Part II. Jerusalem, the Eternal, Indivisible City: 5. Dividing the holy city
6. Jerusalem, indivisible
7. How Northern Ireland became divisible (and why Jerusalem has not)
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP], Sociology [JHB]