Spatial Justice and the Irish Crisis

As the global financial crisis enters its sixth year, this volume offers a wide-ranging critique of its handling. Academics in the field of social geography address the key political, economic and social shifts that have defined contemporary Ireland as it responds to the interrated collapses of the property market and the banking system. The concept of ‘spatial justice’ provides a cogent entry point for the authors into debates around austerity, equality and social justice. This volume enquires into the everyday concerns of citizens, planners and government officials alike. Each chapter undertakes a detailed examination of core aspects of the crisis and its management, including housing, planning and the environment, health, education, migration and unemployment. The analyses extend beyond the academy to questions of policy, governmentality, public participation and active citizenship. These contributions come from leading geographers across Ireland, the UK and North America.

Gerry Keanrs is a human geographer at National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He works on the cultural politics of AIDS, on the political geography of the Irish Catholic Church, and on the geopolitics of imperialism.David Meredith is a rural and economic geographer at the Spatial Analysis Unit in Teagasc’s Rural Economy Development Programme. Reflecting the complex nature of contemporary rural development, his research focuses on rural restructuring with a particular emphasis on the evolution of the economy and the implications of changing settlement patterns for rural areas.John Morrissey is a political and cultural geographer at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He has published widely on issues of imperialism, geopolitics and development. At NUI Galway he is Programme Director of the MA in Environment, Society and Development.Danny Dorling is Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at The University of Oxford. He is a regular in the British media and his awards include the Back Award from the Royal Geographical Society, in recognition of his applied research, as well as The Geographical Association Award for Excellence in Leading Geography.David Harvey is the Distinguished Professor of Geography and Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is the most widely cited geographer in the English language. He has pioneered the development of a geographical perspective within Marxist scholarship and likewise has promoted socialist perspectives within geography.John Agnew is Distinguished Professor of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles and has a visiting position at the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast. He is very widely published in political geography and was co-founding-editor of the journal Geopolitics.Rob Kitchin is an ERC Advanced Investigator at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Between 2002 and 2013 he was the director of the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis. Rob is currently an editor of the journals Progress in Human Geography and Dialogues in Human Geography.Cian O’Callaghan is an urban geographer at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He has paid particular attention to cultural theory and issues about the representation of urban life in art. He has also examined the place of the cultural industries in urban regeneration.Marie Mahon is a human geographer at the National University of Ireland, Galway, where she is currently Head of Geography. Her recent research has been about the political, social and economic sustainability of the rural–urban fringe. She is part of the Galway element of the EU-funded Framework 7 project, ‘Developing Europe’s Rural Regions in the Era of Globalisation’.Anna R. Davies is an environmental geographer at Trinity College Dublin and coordinates the Environmental Governance Research Group there. Her research on environment governance has been funded by, among other bodies, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Irish Research Council of the Humanities and Social Sciences, the European Union, and the Royal Irish Academy.David Meredith is a rural and economic geographer at the Spatial Analysis Unit in Teagasc’s Rural Economy Development Programme. Reflecting the complex nature of contemporary rural development, his research focuses on rural restructuring with a particular emphasis on the evolution of the economy and the implications of changing settlement patterns for rural areas.Jon Paul Faulkner graduated from Trinity College Dublin with degrees in applied social research and is currently undertaking a PhD in University College Dublin focused on restructuring of the rural economy, and farm and non-farm household vulnerability. His research covers the application of quantitative approaches to Census of Population data to classify and understand socio-spatial processes.Des McCafferty is a human geographer at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, where he is Head of Geography. He has research interests in urban social geography and in spatial planning and development. He has served as President of the Geographical Society of Ireland, and as Chair of the Irish branch of the Regional Studies Association. He is currently a member of Limerick City Council’s Strategic Policy Committee for Housing and Social Policy.Eileen Humphreys is a post-doctoral researcher in the Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society at the University of Limerick. Dr Humphreys is a sociologist who has worked extensively, both theoretically and empirically, on the notion of social capital. Much of her research has been on social inequality in Limerick.Ronan Foley is a health geographer at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth where he is the Course Leader for the MSc in GIS and Remote Sensing. He has published on issues relating to access to health care and on the healing role of landscape. Ronan’s work on therapeutic landscapes has both historical and modern dimensions and he has a particular interest in the history of holy wells and of spa towns.Adrian Kavanagh is a political geographer at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He has an extensive media presence around issues relating to electoral geography and the political geography of Eurovision. He has a particular interest in predicting electoral results based on geographical analyses of opinion polls and past voting behaviour.Mary Gilmartin is a human geographer at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Her work on immigration has been funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, by the Immigrant Council of Ireland, and by the European Union. She is on the editorial boards of Geographical Journal, ACME, and Social and Cultural Geography.Gerry Keanrs is a human geographer at National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He works on the cultural politics of AIDS, on the political geography of the Irish Catholic Church, and on the geopolitics of imperialism.John Morrissey is a political and cultural geographer at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He has published widely on issues of imperialism, geopolitics and development. At NUI Galway he is Programme Director of the MA in Environment, Society and Development.