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145 4 The Lisbon Treaty and economic crisis: catalysts for reform of the Oireachtas role in European Union affairs Introduction: the impact of the Lisbon Treaty and the 2008–2013 economic crises The Oireachtas role in European policy is evolving. If the rate of change is slow, powerful forces are, nonetheless, over time producing an altered landscape. Chapter 5 offers a perspective on the present-day Oireachtas role. The focus of this chapter is on the process of change. Two of the greatest recent catalysts for change have been (a) the evolution and entry
This book makes an important contribution to the existing literature on European social democracy in the wake of the 2008 financial crash and ensuing recession. It considers ways in which European social democratic parties at both the national and European level have responded to the global economic crisis (GEC). The book also considers the extent to which the authors might envisage alternatives to the neo-liberal consensus being successfully promoted by those parties within the European Union (EU). The book first explores some of the broader thematic issues underpinning questions of the political economy of social democracy during the GEC. Then, it addresses some of the social democratic party responses that have been witnessed at the level of the nation state across Europe. The book focuses in particular on some of the countries with the longest tradition of social democratic and centre-left party politics, and therefore focuses on western and southern Europe. In contrast to the proclaimed social democratic (and especially Party of European Socialists) ambitions, the outcomes witnessed at the EU level have been less promising for those seeking a supranational re-social democratization. In order to understand the EU-level response of social democratic party actors to the Great Recession, the book situates social democratic parties historically. In the case of the British Labour Party, it also identifies the absence of ideological alternatives to the 'there is no alternative' (TINA)-logic that prevailed under the leadership of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
17 Immigration, the Celtic Tiger and the economic crisis One of the legacies of the Celtic Tiger period of rapid economic growth has been the transformation of the Republic of Ireland (hereafter Ireland) into a multi-ethnic society with a large permanent immigrant population. The 2006 census identified 419,733 non-Irish citizens as living in the country. By 2011, when the next census was taken, this number had risen to 544,357. Ireland’s immigrant population seemed to have increased during the economic crisis. In fact it peaked in 2008 at over 575,000, or 12
In the last decade, Ireland's immigrant population grew to more than one in ten. Now in the midst of an economic crisis, the integration of immigrants has become a topical issue. This book offers a detailed account of how immigrants in Ireland are faring. Drawing extensively on demographic data and research on immigrant lives, immigrant participation in Irish politics and the experiences of immigrants living in deprived communities, it offers a thorough study of the immigrant experience in Ireland today. Chapters and case studies examine the effects of immigration on social cohesion, the role of social policy, the nature and extent of segregation in education, racism and discrimination in the labour market, and barriers faced by immigrants seeking Irish citizenship. The book contributes to the field of integration studies through its focus on the capabilities and abilities needed by immigrants to participate successfully in Irish society. It follows two previous books by the author for Manchester University Press: Racism and Social Change in the Republic of Ireland (2002) and Immigration and Social Change in the Republic of Ireland (2007).
involved professors from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and four local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). However, state censorship distorted a smooth evolution within three years of the programme’s launching by limiting participation exclusively to Lebanese youth. Despite the legal, technical and institutional barriers that prohibit refugees from engaging in online work, and an ongoing economic crisis that limits Lebanon’s capacity to tap into a rapidly growing
staff among 542 Syrian and Lebanese participants who had participated in trainings during the preceding twelve months showed that only 13 per cent were employed ( Shibli et al. , 2021 : 32). This was to a large part because of Lebanon’s economic crisis and its restrictive regime for refugees. While it is clear that Germany and Lebanon are very unequal points of comparison, this data shows that the success of intermediation in digital livelihoods is heavily dependent on
income amid Venezuela’s economic crisis: In Venezuela, I had a computer, Wi-Fi and started earning money by selling schoolwork all over the internet, which helped me pay for my college, but here I can’t do that. (Ricsy) In Venezuela, I worked at a restaurant that had to close because of the crisis. So I took a bakery course and started taking pictures of the bread I made to send people to know my product. But there came a time when
couples this phenomenon to the neoliberal model which is at the roots of the problem. Humanitarianism currently appears as a ‘symptom’ of the global political and economic crisis, as a device of government and an instrument of neoliberal solution born within the same system ( Sözer, 2019 : 2). In consequence, ‘new’ humanitarianism represents ‘a project of neoliberal governmentality, reliant on sovereignty, discipline and biopolitics’ ( Piotukh, 2015 : 11). Therefore, ‘humanitarianism cannot only be seen as an alternative to expand the participation of certain agencies
supported by WFP. While the authors highlight the many benefits the training brought to the participating refugees and Lebanese youth, including enhancing self-confidence and forging friendships, their analysis of the wider barriers and restrictions that impacted the outcomes paints a sobering picture. In particular, they show how Lebanon’s restrictive policies for Syrian refugees, alongside the country’s deep economic crisis, have fundamentally undermined the potential
This book takes a body of ethnographic data collected in 2001-2, during a year's fieldwork at the Bank of Scotland (BoS) and HBOS, and revisits it from the perspective of the 2014-16 period. It explores the tension between the 'ethnographic present' of the author's original research and the unavoidable alteration of perspective on that data that the economic crisis has created. The original research had been planned to take place in the BoS but in 2001, before the research began, BoS had merged with the Halifax to form HBOS. The book provides a long-term historical perspective on BoS/HBOS, from inception to the 2008 financial crisis, and then a consideration of the nature of historical explanation, under the rubric of 'theory'. The main attempts to explain the proximate causes of the 2008 crisis, as well as more encompassing political economic arguments about the trajectory and dynamics of capitalism are examined. The concept of 'culture' as applied to both national groups, Scots and English, and organizations, BoS and Halifax, are also dealt with. The book examines other governing concepts such as organisational change in the business world and social change, identity and the way Scottish and English experience their own personhood, and comparative nature of ethnographic research. The conclusion reviews and draws together the themes of the book, returning to the overarching question of historical perspective and explanation.