Pluto Press Reinventing Ireland: Culture, Society and the Global Economy (Contemporary Irish Studies)

Over the last decade the Irish economy has experienced a period of unprecedented growth which has earned it the title Celtic Tiger. This success has been interpreted by academic commentators as marking a social and cultural transformation, what some have called the reinvention of Ireland. The essays in this book challenge the largely positive interpretation of Ireland's changing social order. The authors identify the ways in which culture and society have been made subservient to the needs of the market in this new neo-liberal Ireland. They draw on subversive strands in Irish history and offer a broader and more robust understanding of culture as a site of resistance to the dominant social order and as a political means to fashion an alternative future. Review 'At the cutting edge of social and cultural commentary on Ireland' -- Books Ireland Synopsis Over the 1990s the Irish economy experienced a period of unprecedented growth which has earned it the title "Celtic Tiger". This success has been interpreted by academic commentators as marking a social and cultural transformation, what some have called the reinvention of Ireland. The essays in this volume challenge the largely positive interpretation of Ireland's changing social order. It identifies the ways in which culture and society have been made subservient to the needs of the market in this neo-liberal Ireland. It draws on subversive strands in Irish history and offers a broader and more robust understanding of culture as a site of resistance to the dominant social order and as a political means to fashion an alternative future. About the Author Peadar Kirby is Professor of International Politics and Public Policy in the University of Limerick. He is the author of Celtic Tiger in Collapse (2010) and co-editor of Transforming Ireland (2009). Luke Gibbons is Professor of English, and Film, Theatre and Television, at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Michael Cronin is Senior Lecturer in the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies and Dean of the Joint Faculty of Humanities, Dublin City University.