Debating austerity in Ireland: crisis, experience and recovery
Book Details
Published by Royal Irish Academy
September 2017
PaperbackNumber of pages: 339
ISBN: 978-1-908997-68-5
The austerity that followed the recent economic and financial crisis has led to impassioned debates across the social sciences and the public at large. Although Ireland was not its only victim, the depth of the interacting economic, banking and budgetary crises has meant that the level of public interest has been especially intense. Among the hotly debated questions: what is austerity? Was it necessary? What have been its consequences? One of the defining features of the debate to date has been its tendency to polarise opinion and adopt a one-dimensional perspective. This book challenges us to adopt a more nuanced approach to understandings of austerity, and by extension the path to recovery. The book brings together leading national and international experts from across the social sciences to debate this traumatic period in Ireland’s economic and social development.
The papers were selected from a conference at the Royal Irish Academy, peer-reviewed and rewritten with the addition of a substantial introduction and conclusion by the editors.
This book is also available on JSTOR. For more information, institutions can visit Books at JSTOR or contact participation@jstor.org.
This book is also available on the Digital Repository of Ireland.
You can buy the e-book here.
Contents
List of figures vii
List of tables viii
About the authors ix
Foreword Patrick Honohan xi
Introduction
Austerity in Ireland: a debate Niamh Moore-Cherry, John McHale and Emma Heffernan 1
Part 1: Austerity as concept and practice
1. A general theory of austerity Simon Wren-Lewis 17
2. Why austerity? John McHale 37
3. The ideological project of austerity experts Kieran Allen 53
4. Irish media coverage of the housing bubble and austerity Julien Mercille 67
Part 2: Experiencing austerity
5. Austerity in the European periphery: the Irish experience Niamh Hardiman, Spyros Blavoukos, Sebastian Dellepiane Avellaneda and George Pagoulatos 83
6. Austerity and inequality in Ireland Christopher T. Whelan and Brian Nolan 100
7. Austerity, resistance and social protest in Ireland:movement outcomes Niamh Hourigan 115
8. Housing and austerity: a two-way street Ronan Lyons 129
9. Poverty and risk: the impact of austerity on vulnerable females in Dublin’s inner city Emma Heffernan 144
10. Child poverty in a period of austerity Dorothy Watson, Bertrand Maître, Christopher T. Whelan and James Williams 157
11. Resilience: a high price for survival? The impact of austerity on Irish higher education, South and North Rosalind Pritchard and Maria Slowey 175
12. Migration patterns, experiences and consequences in an age of austerity Mary Gilmartin 191
13. The austerity myth: parenting and the new thrift culture in contemporary Ireland Fiona Murphy 204
Part 3: Beyond austerity? From crisis to recovery
14. Ireland’s recovery: explanation, potential and pitfalls Seán Ó Riain 219
15. Resources available for public services: how does Ireland compare now and how to prepare for the future? Seamus Coffey 235
16. Towards an inclusive and just recovery Seán Healy 255
Conclusion: progressing debates on austerity in Ireland John McHale, Niamh Moore-Cherry and Emma Heffernan 270
Appendices 281
Bibliography 310
Index 334
About the authors
Emma Heffernan
Emma Heffernan is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Research Collaborative in Quality and Safety (RCQS) based at the RCSI / MU. She completed her PhD in anthropology at Maynooth University in 2011 and a Masters in Public Health in UCD in 2013. Emma is also a registered general nurse and holds a BSc (Hons) in Nursing from RCSI and a Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Nursing from TCD. Her research interests include social exclusion, global health, social and cultural determinants of health and illness, sexuality, social epidemiology and public health.
John McHale
John McHale is established professor of economics and director of the Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change at NUI Galway. He is also chairperson of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council. He previously held appointments as associate professor of managerial economics at the Queenâs School of Business, Ontario and as assistant and associate professor of economics at Harvard University, where he also received his PhD in 1996. He is currently a member of the National Economic and Social Council, associate editor of the Economic and Social Review, and vice-president of the Irish Economics Association.
Niamh Moore-Cherry
Niamh Moore-Cherry is associate professor and deputy head of the School of Geography, University College Dublin. She is an urban geographer and her research is focused on understanding how cities are governed; how urban policy is developed; and with what impacts. She is the author of Dublin Docklands Reinvented (Four Courts Press, 2008), has co-edited two books and has published papers in national and international journals. She is president of the Geographical Society of Ireland and a member of the Royal Irish Academy Social Sciences Committee.
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