Cosmopolitan Ireland : globalisation and quality of life / Carmen Kuhling and Kieran Keohane.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kuhling, Carmen.

Contributor:

Keohane, Kieran.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Globalization--Ireland.

Globalization.

Ireland--Economic conditions--1949-.

Ireland.

Ireland--Politics and government--1949-.

Ireland--Social conditions--1973-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; Dublin ; Ann Arbor, Mich. : Pluto Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

'One can't help but delight in Keohane and Kuhling's Cosmopolitan Ireland. Their evocative examples and insightful analyses are an important tool for helping us understand the zeitgeist of contemporary Irish culture.' Dr. Matthew Trachman, Associate Professor of Sociology, Queensborough Community College, City University New York 'A sociologically insightful and engaging encounter with the complexities and subtleties of a rapidly changing Ireland. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the fate of this country.' Dr. Patricia Cormack, Associate Professor, Sociology, St. Francis Xavior University, Nova Scotia, Canada'A fast-paced yet historical and analytic account of the new Irish global economy and its leap into a cosmopolitan culture with its highs and lows of consumerism, binge drinking, defamilization, sub-urbanization and very high youth suicide rates.' John O'Neill, Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology, York University, Toronto Ireland is going through a period of unprecedented economic and cultural growth and renewal. These changes are due in part to neoliberal policies that have attracted foreign investment. The globalization of Ireland's economy has had major social consequences. Living standards are rising quickly. Emigration has reversed. Catholicism has been secularized, laws on divorce and sexuality have been liberalized. Ireland has become an urban society for the first time. But there is stark inequality and social exclusion; epidemics of depression, alcoholism, and obesity; traditional values and community are declining; and there is deep ambivalence towards immigrants. Ireland's economy is globalized, but is Irish society cosmopolitan? Wealth has increased, but has quality of life improved? The authors explore the developments of the last 15 years, capturing the intensity of the debates that make up the new cosmopolitan multi-cultural Ireland.

Contents:

Pt. 1. Globalisation and social inequality in Ireland. Economics: social inequality and the Celtic tiger

Politics: continuity and change in Irish political culture

pt. 2. The diversification and commodification of Irish identity. Culture: race and multiculturalism in Ireland

Consumption: Guinness, Ballygowan and Riverdance: the globalisation of Irish identity

pt. 3. Globalisation and quality of life in Ireland. Depression: The melancholy spirit of the Celtic tiger

Binge drinking and overeating: globalisation and insatiability

pt. 4. Beyond 'consumer citizenship' and neoliberalism: cosmopolitanising Ireland. Social welfare and redistribution: taxation and civic health

Education and recognition: the cultivation of a cosmopolitan imaginary

Conclusion: a cosmopolitan ethics for a postnational society.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781849643603

1849643601

OCLC:

655853719