Sociology in Ireland: Legacies and Challenges

Abstract

Looking at the history of sociology in modem Ireland we can observe a constant oscillation between continuity and rupture. However, we are somewhat reluctant to interpret this as a kind of Irish Sonderweg or Irish exceptionalism. What re mains noticeable though is a relatively late willingness to connect to the outside world -culturally and intellectually. This is partly explained by several decades of Catholic institutional dominance. The challenges since late secularisation of the field occurred in the 1970s have included epistemological dominance of the rather narrow posivitist type. Within this context university-based sociologists and sociologies have often been perceived as self-marginalised figures and para digms. As we approach the new millennium the situation of sociology as a disci pline is less precarious compared to earlier times. However, new institutional challenges, such as the metrics increasingly used to evaluate scholarship, have called more traditional notions of the discipline into question.

The slings, arrows and survival of Irish sociology

“…Given that there have already been some good descriptions and analyses of the history of Irish sociology, in particular those of Fanning and Hess (2015a, 2015b), but also by Goldthorpe et al (2002), and O’Connor (2006), this will be a more personal and perhaps an eclectic reflection.…”

For a public sociology in Ireland – an outsider's view

“…To explore the development of sociology in Ireland since the IJS was born from this outsider's vantage point (albeit not attempting to replicate Fanning and Hess's (2015) comprehensive Sociology in Ireland: Legacies and Challenges, yet hopefully offering a more reflexive view), I first trawl through and reflect on IJS article titles (being barred from reading the articles themselves by a publisher benefitting from free academic labour) to chart the progress from focusing inwards on sociology as a discipline and on Irish exceptionalism to expanding the thematic range. Not surprisingly, I am interested in locating sociological scholarship that deals with the outsider, the migrant, the racialisedsomething I began focusing on after completing my PhD that used a gender analysis to explore Israel's relationship with survivors of the Nazi genocide and occupied Palestinea theme I would return to again and again.…”

Constructing sociology: The IJS and academic institution building

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Anniversaries are moments to reflect. 'Irish sociology' (with the inverted commas very much necessary to highlight the nebulousness of the concept) has periodically reflexively looked at itself to ask the question of what are we about, and even what are we (Conway, 2006;Fanning and Hess, 2015). The Irish Journal of Sociology is one of the primary institutions through which the discipline of sociology gives reality to itself and it is wonderful to mark 30 years of the journal.

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