New social movement theory and the reparations movement in Northern Ireland: The case of the WAVE Injured Group and its Campaign for Recognition

This thesis explores this phenomenon by illuminating, through a sociological case study, the struggle for social change from one particular group of victims based in post-violence Northern Ireland: the WAVE Injured Group and its Campaign for Recognition. To offset their relative power imbalance, this new social movement engaged in contentious reparations politics and lobbied for bespoke material reparations, which they hoped would provide collective benefits to those injured during the Troubles.

Guided by two intersecting theoretical frameworks, based on social movement theories and transitional justice scholarship, this thesis explores the chronological history of the campaign and the dynamic processes, which explain the origins of this movement, its active mobilisation, its framing strategies, and its interaction within dense informal networks. Faced with a series of social and political constraints, endemic to transitional societies, these victims employed a range of tactics in both the private and public spheres to maximise the support of influential allies and the wider public.