This book provides the first 'history from below' of the inter-war Belfast labour movement. It is a social history of the politics of Belfast labour and applies methodology from history, sociology and political science. Christopher J. V. Loughlin questions previous narratives that asserted the centrality of religion and sectarian conflict in the establishment of Northern Ireland. Labour and the Politics of Disloyalty in Belfast, 1921-39 suggests that political division and violence were key to the foundation and maintenance of the democratic ancien régime in Northern Ireland. It examines the relationship between Belfast Labour, sectarianism, electoral politics, security and industrial relations policy, and women's politics in the city.

Christopher J. V. Loughlin is an independent researcher and graduate of Queen's University Belfast, UK. He has previously published a number of journal articles, as well as contributed chapters to David Convery (ed.), Locked Out: A Century of Irish Working-Class Life (2013) and Michael Pierse (ed.), A History of Irish Working-Class Writing (2017).

Chapter Two: Belfast Labour, Nationalism and Sectarianism

Chapter Three: Building the 'Great March' of Progress

Chapter Four: Labour, Law and the State in Northern Ireland, 19211939

Chapter Five: Women and Belfast Labour Politics

Chapter Six: Conclusion: Belfast Labour, Civil Rights and the Politics of Disloyalty

Index