Frank wright revisited

The profound impact that Frank Wright's 1987 book Northern Ireland: A Comparative Analysis has had on the study of deeply divided societies has only become clear over the long run. Despite (or perhaps because of) its complexity of structure, the book succeeds in offering comparative insights into how systems of inter-communal violence can first develop and then become self-sustaining. As an Englishman settled in Northern Ireland, Wright was highly sensitised to the condescension typically shown by liberal metropolitans towards the inhabitants of 'ethnic frontiers'. Wright's principled refusal to see political stability in terms of moral essentialism lends his work both insight and continued relevance today.