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Ireland is a turbulent place. This book engages readers with the contours of transformation of Irish society through a series of distinct episodes and sites where change can be confronted. The content of the book intersects with the boom and bust themes to explore the economic and social implications of the recession. The processes are as diverse as cross-border development, farming knowledges, food movements, and the evolution of traditional Irish music. The modernisation of Irish society during the Celtic Tiger and its subsequent demise was a 'spatial drama' involving transformation in the material landscape and the imaginative representation of the island. The first part of the book explores the revolving intersections of identity politics with place. It tracks the discovery of the ghost estate and the ways in which it has been implicated in debates about the Irish economic crash, complicating ideas of home and community. After a discussion on immigration, the book discusses the role of migrants in filling labour and skill shortages. The second part pays attention to questions of mobility and consumption in urban and rural contexts. The new Irish motorway network, free time, leisure and holidaying in the lives of lone parents during the Celtic Tiger, and the role of National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) are discussed. The third part explores diverse cultural practices and some longstanding representations of Ireland. An autobiographical tour of the pub session, National Geographic's representations of Irish landscape and the current Irish imagination are the key concepts of this part.
also a partner rather than an opposer of ‘big agri-business’ and global financial capitalism. It is clear that agro-food movements around the world are still unfolding and whether they actually reach out to the goal of being anti-systemic or not remains to be seen (Borras and Slafer, 2008). Here, I do not discuss the need to sociologically advance the classification of peasants
that a critical distance is established between subject and object of consumption so that a reflexive evaluation can be carried out. On the other hand, it requires a new aesthetic relationship of some kind so that a sensual connection, something that lies outside of formal systems of calculation, can be established. By combining these two aspects, we can suggest that a ‘relational aesthetic’ is required as consumers attempt to assess the various quality foods that confront them. Relational reflexivity in the new food movements Gronow and Warde (2001: 219) have
, 1997). Goodman (2000) differentiates alternative food movements suggesting that there are two strands: a sustainable agriculture, producer-led movement in rural space and a community food security, consumer- or citizen-led movement in urban space. In Celtic Tiger Ireland, seemingly unrelenting economic growth was questioned by some, driving a food movement in rural areas, led by local food actors such as farmers, growers and small food producers (Tovey, 2006). One key outcome was the establishment of Ireland’s first farmers’ markets in the 1990s, which continued to
bridge the gap from focused democratic actions within food movements to wider applications of democratic practice (McIvor and Hale, 2015: 729). This requires three conditions; the first is to move beyond civic skills (practicality) focusing on long-lasting civic relationships. The second is to progress from superficial relationships (specific injustices) between the public and private/State organisations through the mapping of power dynamics. The third is a move towards ‘the commons’, which is defined as a recurrent coordinated space of action, full of tension and
. At the same time, particularly in the case of Michelin, a fervour has been created around the awarding of particular accolades. The author also suggested that ‘subfields generated by the continued expansion of the field assured the simultaneous concord and conflict of the parties involved’. One could argue that gastronomic subfields in the form of things like the previously mentioned farmers’ markets, artisan producers, organic and slow food movements have developed in Ireland and contributed to the continuing expansion of the field and the on-going debate with
varying extents with the boom and bust themes to explore the economic and social implications of the recession in terms of processes as diverse as cross-border development, farming knowledges, food movements, and the evolution of traditional Irish music. Observations on the overarching theme of ‘change’ run through the case studies and topics addressed in this collection, which are also attentive to the relationships between space, place, landscape, identity and society. In both historical phases – boom and bust – the modernisation of Irish society during the Celtic