Negotiating Boundaries or Drawing the Line? Transcending ‘Insider/Outsider’ Distinctions in Connemara

Abstract

This paper examines insider/outsider distinctions in a rural community in Connemara and argues that they are rooted in locality and are based upon conflicting knowledge cultures. Such distinctions are both contextual and fluid as they encompass a range of cultural factors and find expression through particular conventions on language use and everyday behavioural strategies. The insider/outsider nexus is continually negotiated in this community, and individuals are recognised as possessing degrees of insider and/or outsider status depending upon which particular modes of behaviour or linguistic practices may be seen as acceptable by the wider community in particular social situations.

Qualitative data presented in this paper reveals that while some incomers to the region are viewed as ‘outsiders’ by more established members of the community, the degree to which this is the case frequently depends on whether they are perceived as sharing local people's ‘habitus’ prior to their entering the community. Instead of drawing strict lines of distinction between locals and incomers, both groups engage in regular ‘boundary-making’ by perpetuating locally-based practices and discourse structures, a process which verifies their sense of belonging and continually (re)defines and (re)constitutes the structures of discourse and action entered into in everyday life.