Viewed in this way, the construction of indivisibility is a deeply political process. So
intractable are conflicts in Jerusalem, Kosovo, Kashmir and Ulster that their indivisibility
appears natural, an inevitable result of clashing identities and attachments to the land. The
legitimation theory here questions this view, arguing that indivisibility is contingent and very
much the product of human action. But although constructed, indivisibility is not easily
malleable. As I argue in the conclusion, once actors are locked into an indivisible conflict
reconstructing the issue is difficult, and requires dramatic changes in the political landscape.
The paper proceeds as follows. The next section defines indivisibility, explaining why
treating indivisibility as a social fact is particularly useful to explain territorial conflict. Next, I
develop the legitimation theory of indivisibility. The theory rejects a strict dichotomy between
legitimacy and interests, and instead posits that legitimations are an integral part of strategic
action. Drawing from structural theories of bargaining I contend actors’ legitimation strategies
can have unanticipated structural consequences, creating a fundamentally different set of
coalitions, actors, and strategies, and producing indivisibility as a result. Finally, to be useful
any theory of indivisibility must be applicable to significant cases of territorial conflict. Here I
apply the legitimation theory to Ulster, from 1886 to 1916. The indivisibility of Ulster was not
inevitable; it was constructed by actors’ legitimation strategies as they battled for support over
the issue of Ireland’s right to self-rule. I conclude by exploring under what conditions indivisible
territory might become divisible, and the implications of this for policy.
Our money and our children: defining indivisible issues
I define an issue as indivisible if actors represent the issue (such as territory) in ways that
eliminate any possible division, and thus reduce the bargaining range to “0”. In technical terms,
indivisibility describes a situation in which actors represent the value of the issue as
Convention