Showcasing Globalisation? The Political Economy of the Irish Republic

by Smith, Nicola Jo-Anne

• ISBN13: 9780719069932
• ISBN10: 0719069939
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-29
• Publisher: MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Summary

The Irish Republic has been held up as a showpiece of globalisation due to its perceived transformation from 'sick man' to 'tiger' of Europe in the 1990s. This book critically examines whether Ireland's political economy can be understood in these terms, highlighting the implications of the Irish case for broader debates about globalisation and national governance. A broad range of issues are explored including: the nature of Ireland's recent transformation and whether this is best captured by the term the 'Celtic tiger'; the reasons for Ireland's economic growth in the 1990s and whether this can be attributed to globalisation; the trajectory of economic policy in order to establish whether the Irish model is being transformed over time; the economic dynamics behind policy change, assessing whether Ireland can indeed be characterised as a global economy; and the political dynamics behind policy change, assessing in particular the role of ideas about globalisation in shaping political outcomes. The book emphasises the need to unpack processes of economic and policy change, highlighting their complexity and contingency.

Author Biography

Nicola Jo-Anne Smith is Research Fellow at the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham.

Table of Contents

List of figures	viii
List of tables	x
Preface and acknowledgements	xi
List of abbreviations	xii
Introduction	1	(9)
The globalisation debate	10	(26)
Economic performance (1): Ireland the `Celtic tiger'?	36	(27)
Economic performance (2): a `showpiece of globalisation'?	63	(34)
The trajectory of the Irish state (1): 1921 to 1987	97	(22)
The trajectory of the Irish state (2): 1987 to 2004	119	(21)
The dynamics behind policy change (1): the international economic context	140	(27)
The dynamics behind policy change (2): the political discourse of globalisation	167	(30)
Conclusion	197	(5)
Select bibliography	202	(7)
Index	209