'Alternative Ulster': Punk Rock as a means of overcoming the religious divide in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Northern Ireland is now looked to as a [potentially] successful example of reconciliation and peace building. Often resource creators focus on ‘official’ peace building efforts, rather than the spontaneous or organic approach to peace building that took place within and between communities. The subculture of punk rock will be examined as such an approach. The claiming of the punk identity was akin to willingly wearing the mantle of ‘otherness’ in a dangerous environment. It also provided an opportunity to meet and interact with those from the other side of ‘the divide’; to ask questions rather than make assumptions based on inherited traditions and ideologies – both real and imagined. Punk rock became a ‘religion’ in and of itself that superseded the religious traditions and institutions of their families and communities. Finally, the paper draws comparable examples with Indonesia and Russia.