Northern Ireland: the political economy of conflict. Bob Rowthorn and Naomi Wayne, Polity Press, 1988. Reviewed by JEAN REILLY NAOMI WAYNE, a London based trade union officer, and Bob Rowthom, a Cambridge economist, have developed in this book a coberent and well argued case for British withdrawal from Ireland. For that reason alone it is a welcome contribution to the debate and a timely one. gaven that it coincides with the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the present phase of the struggle in the
The first section of the book sets the scene in a history of the island from the "plantation" to the present day. It is a brief but thorough account of the histoncal and political development of Ireland and one which socialists and republicans would have no quarrel with. This is followed by an account of the sectarianism and discrimination, fostered by British rule, which developed in the six county statelet togcther with an account of the rise of the civil nghts movement and the various British attempts, such as power-sharing, to deal with the ensuing sir.
The core of the book, and what makes it significant, is the analysis of the six county conomy and its economic prospects — and the clear and forthright way in which the authors develop this analysis to come to one precise conclusion: Britain must withdraw from
The authors provide an abundance of statistical information on the effects of vectarianism on employment, wages, housing, emigration and Handards of living in the north.
In the final section of the book
REV
A forthright
call for
withdrawal
the authors take on, one by one, the arguments against withdrawal and present logical and concise counter-arguments in cach case.
On a more caulinus note. however, it must be said thai part ofthe argument which Rowthor and Wayne develop on the future Prospects for a 32 county Irish economy, depend on the maintenance on both sides of the present border of a low wage, nighly skilled workforce.
In addition, the brief description they give of the 26 county economy, for the purposes of comparison with that of the six countics, soems a bit too generous and uncritical. They note favourably that successive Dublin governments have been able to attract substantial investment by foreign based multinational companies. They fail to point out, however, that this has meant that the southern economy is now essentially a branch-plant economy and that, overwhelmingly, the profits: made by multinationals are exported and not used to build a strong manufacturing or industrial base in Ireland.
More seriously, they make the point very strongly that Britain should continue to give aid for a substantial period after the removal of the troops and the unification of Ireland. They argue that not only would this be Britain's moral duty, but that it would be necessary, together with guarantees of religious and civil liberties, to induce loyalists to acquiesce in the removal of the border.
To argue this without spelling out how unlikely it is that Britain would give aid without any strings attached is a problem. The authors explicitly argue that Britain, and possibly other imperialist powers, would be willing to give aid in order to guarantee for themselves a stable friendly neighbour in what in a strategic region. This may be true: but it is not the aim of the anti imperialist movement.
This book is an important one and provides anti imperialist with moch aschal factual infonmation and cogent analysis. It is also extremely madable and therefore accessible to comrades unfamiliar with the subject.
The book's strength is its call for British withdrawal The Poll Tax and the