Routledge International Handbook of Irish Studies: 1

Routledge International Handbook of Irish Studies begins with the reversal in Irish fortunes after the 2008 global economic crash. The chapters included address not only changes in post-Celtic Tiger Ireland but also changes in disciplinary approaches to Irish Studies that the last decade of political, economic, and cultural unrest have stimulated. Since 2008, Irish Studies has been directly and indirectly influenced by the crash and its reverberations through the economy, political landscape, and social framework of Ireland and beyond. Approaching Irish pasts, presents, and futures through interdisciplinary and theoretically capacious lenses, the chapters in this volume reflect the myriad ways Irish Studies has responded to the economic precarity in the Republic, renewed instability in the North, the complex European politics of Brexit, global climate and pandemic crises, and the intense social change in Ireland catalyzed by all of these. Just as Irish society has had to dramatically reconceive its economic and global identity after the crash, Irish Studies has had to shift its theoretical modes and its objects of analysis in order to keep pace with these changes and upheavals. This book captures the dynamic ways the discipline has evolved since 2008, exploring how the age of austerity and renewal has transformed both Ireland and scholarly approaches to understanding Ireland. It will appeal to students and scholars of Irish studies, sociology, cultural studies, history, literature, economics, and political science. Chapter 3, 5 and 15 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Review "The Routledge International Handbook of Irish Studies and The New Irish Studies do indeed call up limits, but they also make time in particular ways, carving out their own chronologies and shaping history on unexpected scales. In the process, they enlist to their aid not only novels but poems, plays, historical events, performances, paintings, media, sport, buildings, music, animals, sexualities, emotions, environments and disabilities." Prof Claire Connolly, Book Review in Irish Times, May 29, 2021. "Up-to-the-minute history rarely works, but this impressive collection is a valuable exception. Indeed, it is its very determination not only to capture but also to focus on the most recent developments both in Ireland and in Irish studies that makes this collection both a success and also a valuable corrective to the somewhat repetitive ‘deep history’ approach to Irish history. Indeed, this range offers a strong model for comparable work on other areas. The collection is to be welcomed, and hopefully will encourage much debate including over methodology." Jeremy Black, Journal of European Studies 51(2) "The handbook will be a fascinating read in the future, establishing which of the wide range of predictions and assessments made by its authors have proved accurate; for the moment, it is sure to serve as an important resource to students of Ireland and the international public alike, as well as a useful interdisciplinary compendium to scholars..." Ondrej Pilny, Charles University, Prague "If a new round of debates about how to conceptualize the Irish past are indeed upon us, this Handbook provides a useful and timely service. The essays here, taken as a whole, show how both Irish history-writing, and the multidisciplinary field of Irish Studies more broadly, can move beyond insular and old-fashioned ways of writing about modern Ireland and how Irish academics can learn from and meaningfully engage with the rest of the world." Aidan Beatty, The Galway Review "This vastly rich and varied collection of essays supplies a wide-ranging account of the history and evolution of the vibrant academic discipline that is Irish Studies... The em