Everyday Evangelicals : life in a religious subculture after the Belfast Agreement

This paper examines the everyday lives of Northern Irish evangelicals since the Belfast Agreement of 1998. Drawing on more than 100 semi-structured interviews with evangelicals (conducted between 2002-2007), we explore the relationship between macro-level social and political changes and individuals’ religious change. While recognising the importance of macro-level factors in leading evangelicals to a privatisation, moderation or transformation of their faith, we argue that the importance of micro-level, subcultural factors in contributing to change has been underestimated. Thus we sketch out the main elements of a Northern Irish evangelical subculture, exploring how it has contributed to change—especially in directions we describe as converting, conserving and exiting. We conclude that a fuller understanding of individual religious change requires an appreciation of how these macro-level and micro-level factors intersect. In the context of the religiously-plural public sphere which is developing in Northern Ireland, we argue that evangelicals have more flexibility and specifically religious resources for political engagement than has been previously supposed.