Books/Book chapters

The Feel-Good Gulag: the value of the arts

Ian Kilroy — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:30:31 PDT

A 2007 consideration of the importance of the arts in Irish society by Ian Kilroy, Arts Editor of the Irish Examiner. The piece was commissioned by the Irish Arts Council.

Never Myles from the News: the 'Meta-Journalism' of Myles na gCopaleen

Ian Kilroy — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:15:22 PDT

This chapter will interrogate and assess the substantial body of journalistic work of Irish novelist Brian O’Nolan, considered to be one of the founding fathers of the postmodern novel, as exemplified in his classic works At-Swim-Two-Birds and The Third Policeman. Locating his satirical journalism in the context of the Swiftian tradition from which it stems, O’Nolan’s journalism will be read in the societal content in which it was produced: namely 1940s, 1950s and 1960s Ireland, decades in which the country was marked by widespread censorship, increased Church influence on the affairs of state, economic stagnation and sexual repression.

Concentrating on O’Nolan’s ‘Cruiskeen Lawn’ column, which appeared regularly in the Irish Times from 1940 to 1966, under the pseudonym Myles na gCoplaeen, the incredible breath of of this body of work will be considered as ‘literary journalism’. In what sense does it confirm and subvert the ‘literary’ genre of journalistic writing? How is the work journalistic and/or literary? Indeed, does this amount to journalism at all or is ‘Cruiskeen Lawn’ primarily a literary intervention through the popular press by an ambitious writer of fiction?

These questions will be considered though a reading of the hilarious journalistic output of O'Nolan, as he satirized the emerging Irish state in the pages of the Irish Times, a traditionally Unionist newspaper trying to reposition itself in the new realities of the fledgling Irish Republic.

The Reporting of Edmond O’Donovan: Literary Journalism and the Great Game

Michael Foley — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 01:15:55 PDT

Edmond O'Donovan was a well known war correspondent in late Victorian Britain. However, he was also an Irish nationalist and member of the Fenians. This chapter examines a best selling book he wrote about his travels on Central Asia. The book examined the people and politics central to the politics and foreign policies of Britain and Russia. O'Donovan died the year following publication covering Britain's imperial adventures in North Africa.

How Journalism Became a Profession

Michael Foley — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:54:41 PST

Newspaper developed in Ireland as a political press, with each publication clearly identified with particular political groupings. However, for reasons of economics journalism itself developed a professional paradign, that stressed impartiality, so allowing journalists to move from publication to publication regardless of the politics or religion of the journalist. Newspapers and journalists also helped develop a civil society that contributed to the eventual democratic nature of the Irish state, following independence.

Media Effects in Context

Brian O'Neill — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 01:39:59 PDT

The media effects tradition occupies a hugely influential and dominant role within mainstream communications research. It is unquestionably the longest running tradition within the field of audience studies, spanning nearly its entire history, yet it continues to divide opinion, both methodologically and with regard to its fundamental approach towards the study of media audiences. Its influence extends well beyond the academy, and the powerful influence exerted by its research agenda on public and political understanding of the impact of media is perhaps one of its most significant achievements.

Civil Control of the Military and Police In Ireland: the Armed Forces

Tom Clonan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:57:18 PST

The Irish armed forces, known as the Permanent Defence Forces (PDF) or ‘Oglaigh na hEireann’ number approximately 10,000 personnel across the Naval Service, Army and Air Corps. The Defence Forces in Ireland play an active role domestically in ‘Aid to the Civil Power’ Operations or ATCP Ops with the Irish police force, An Garda Siochana. The Defence Forces are also active internationally in UN peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. As an organisation, the Irish Defence Forces is a direct descendant of the Irish Free State Army - initially formed in 1922 following the Irish War of Independence from Britain. From the inception of the Free State Army until 1954, the Irish armed forces were legislated for under the 1923 ‘Temporary Provisions Act’. This act was repealed by the Defence Act of 1954. Subsequently, the Irish Defence Forces are legislatively regulated by the Defence Acts 1954 – 1998. Throughout the turbulent years of the Irish Civil War and throughout the 1920’s, the Irish Free State Army operated under the constitutional authority provided for it under the auspices of the Irish Free State Constitution of 1922. This constitutional authority in tandem with the Temporary Provisions Act of 1923 enshrined in law the formal subordination of the Irish military to the civil authorities and the Irish houses of parliament known as the Oireachtas. Throughout the fraught period of the Civil War and subsequent war years of World War Two – known in Ireland as ‘the Emergency’ – the Irish armed forces and the Irish military authorities remained loyal to and subject to the direction and control of their civilian masters of whatever political persuasion. Over time, serving members of the Irish armed forces came to be regarded both internally within the organisation and externally in the public service generally as ‘non-political servants of the State’. Unlike some of our neighbouring EU states, the Defence Forces in Ireland are traditionally associated with compliance to the law and conformity to the twin concepts of accountability and subordination to the civil authorities. Throughout the lifetime of the Irish Republic to date, the Irish military have not been associated with independent military, political or lobbying activities.

The Integration And Recruitment Of Women To The Irish Defence Forces

Tom Clonan — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 07:26:16 PST

Having examined the trend for a greater integration of women in the international military, it is intended in this chapter to examine the integration and recruitment of women in the PDF. This represents the beginning of the main focus of the study. The documentary, statistical and interview data presented in the next four chapters form the bulk of the analysis of the status and roles assigned female personnel in the PDF. The analysis of status and role of women within the organisation is organised in the subsequent chapters as follows: 1. Role of female personnel It is intended to establish whether or not a gender division of labour exists within the ranks of the defence forces. As stated in the chapter on methodology, I intend to focus on the deployment of female personnel over the core, (combat, combat support) and peripheral (administrative) tasks of the organisation to establish if a segregation of the workforce on the basis of sex exists. The pattern of employment of female Officers, Non Commissioned Officers, (NCOs) and other ranks, (Privates) will be considered against the background of current international trends in the deployment of female military personnel provided in chapter 4. 2. Status of Female personnel I intend to examine the status of female personnel in terms of rank, and appointment within the force. It is also intended to examine the collective status, or ‘critical mass’ of female personnel within the organisation in terms of recruitment, numbers, and visibility. I hope to analyse their impact in terms of rates or advancement, profile, and power within the organisation to influence policy (Adler 1994, Reskin and Padavic, 1994). I intend to examine PDF policy on female personnel and any proactive or progressive policy that may or may not exist. It is my intention to examine the manner in which policy (in relation to recruitment, training, dress, deployment, overseas service and promotion) impacts on the working lives of female soldiers. This will in effect amount to an ‘equality audit’ of the PDF as defined by the EEA (1995); Neal (1998); Rees (1998); and Shaw (1995).

The Training Environment Of The Irish Defence Forces:Integrated Training, Bullying and Sexual Harassment

Tom Clonan — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 07:26:15 PST

The training environment of the Irish Defence Forces: integrated training and bullying in the workplace In this chapter I will refer to recruit and cadet training within the defence forces in light of international trends in integrated training. Following the consideration of ‘commitment’ in terms of numbers of women recruited to the organisation in chapter five, this chapter assesses the “education” component of the setting (Reskin and Padavic, 1994). Through an examination of archival data (syllabi of training, training policy etc) and the data obtained at interview, an assessment of the PDF’s equality of opportunity agenda as it applies to the training opportunities afforded women in the PDF is possible. The chapter considers international trends in military training, the history of the training of women in the PDF (for both other ranks and cadets), and considers the data accrued from interviews conducted. The data gathered as a result of a discussion on training where PDF culture “makes its mark” on entrants led to an unexpected and unanticipated discussion of bullying and sexual harassment within the PDF. This discussion is included in this chapter as it flowed logically from a discussion of the training environment. It is in accord with the emergent design and database management (DBM) system of the research protocol.

The Deployment of Female Personnel Within The Irish Armed Forces

Tom Clonan — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 07:26:14 PST

This chapter deals with the deployment of women throughout the Defence Forces over its primary (combat) and secondary (support) roles. It is intended on this basis to establish whether or not a gender division of labour exists within the PDF. It is intended to examine this phenomenon through an examination of PDF policy on deployment at home and abroad, and the Defence Forces Board Report on policy for the deployment of female personnel. This documentary analysis of PDF policies is complemented by a simple analysis of deployment statistics provided by enlisted personnel section at DFHQ. These statistics are then reviewed in light of a number of audits of the work carried out by female personnel of the PDF. These audits were carried out in two main phases, April 1997 and October 1999. These audits allow for an analysis of the de facto deployment of female personnel on the ground. The fact that the audits took place two and a half years apart allows for a simple analysis of any change in the pattern of women’s deployment, over the period of the study. This chapter on deployment explores the scope and range of military “experience” (Reskin and Padavic 1994) assigned women by the military authorities. In assessing this aspect of PDF culture, use has been made of documentary and archival material in discussing policies on the deployment of female troops (other ranks and officers). The documentary material examined also extends to a detailed treatment of PDF policies, practices and aspirations in the area of the deployment of women soldiers at home and overseas. There is a consideration of the law in relation to these policies in the section on ‘legal aspects’. This discussion of the deployment of female personnel in light of the law, functions in parallel with chapters four and nine, in situating the study within the context of the aspirations, policies and practices outside of the setting. It gives the chapter a wider perspective. The chapter concludes with a summary of the findings generated by the data. There is also much use made of the data gathered by interview revealing women’s attitudes and insights to the deployment policies and practices of the military authorities.

The Promotion Of Women Within The Irish Armed Forces

Tom Clonan — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 07:26:13 PST

The Promotion of Female Personnel Within the Irish Armed Forces The aim of this study, to critically examine the status and roles assigned female personnel in the PDF, has been addressed in a number of ways. The role of women in the PDF has been examined in chapter seven, in terms of the deployment policies and practices as promulgated by the military authorities. The pattern of women’s employment within a gender division of labour was charted through a number of unit audits. The women’s attitudes to this pattern of employment and their aspirations in this respect were also assessed through a simple analysis of interview data. In the chapter on training, an analysis of the PDF training environment, particularly as it impacts on women, gave some insights into the role envisaged for female troops, and their perceived status within a male dominated organisation. The issue of status, in terms of the numbers and visibility of women, was assessed in the chapter on recruitment. PDF policies in this regard were shown to have had an effect on any possible impact women may have had on the organisation by limiting the numbers of those eligible to apply for service and imposing quotas on the numbers of those selected for service. Issues of status were also examined in the chapter on deployment in terms of the appointments assigned female personnel over the primary and secondary roles of the organisation. The issue of status is now further examined in this chapter on promotion. There is a discussion of the criteria for promotion and how PDF deployment and training policies impact on women’s promotion opportunities in this regard. There is a simple analysis of figures in relation to female (other ranks) promotion and female officers’ promotion. There is also a qualitative insight into the perceptions of female troops in relation to their promotion prospects and their aspirations for promotion. The power or status of women within the organisation through this simple analysis can be assessed by applying the models outlined by Adler (1994) in terms of access to “strategic power” and Reskin and Padavic (1994) in terms of “autonomy” for female personnel. It will be of interest to note if the PDF operates to proactively promote women in the workplace in accord with EEA guidelines (1998) and in line with the spirit of equality of opportunity literature, or if indeed the PDF is a work environment hostile to equality of opportunity with an ad hoc and “informal promotion policy and a work culture that froze (sic) women out”. (Reskin and Padavic, 1994: 98-9)

Equal Opportunities Within An Garda Siochana, The Royal Ulster Constabulary, the International Military and the Irish Public Service

Tom Clonan — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 07:26:11 PST

Equality of opportunity: An Garda Siochana, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the international military and the Irish public service

This chapter will consider the lot of female employees in other uniformed organisations at home and abroad and in other sectors of the public service. It will consider the question of proactive and affirmative action policies in the light of those PDF policies highlighted in chapters five to eight. I will consider equality of opportunity policy and practice within the Garda Síochána, the RUC, the international military and throughout the public service. I will also deal with issues of representation in this area from the point of view of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, RACO and PDFORRA. The examination in this chapter, of policies and practices in the area of equality of opportunity as they apply in other organisations and institutions at home and abroad, situates the study within a wider context. The practices and policies as promulgated by the PDF can be considered in comparison to those that apply elsewhere.

International Trends In The Deployment Of Female Soldiers

Tom Clonan — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 07:26:08 PST

In this chapter I will briefly outline, by means of example and for the purpose of comparison, the integration of women in the international military. This outline is not intended to be an exhaustive history. It focuses primarily on the British and American experience since the end of the second world war. I have chosen the British and American armies as they are those armies with which the PDF has had most contact in terms of training and cultural exchange. In the first section of this chapter, I briefly examine the roles of women in a number of major and regional conventional conflicts, in uniform, as regular members of standing military formations. In the second section, I briefly examine the role of women in terrorism and low intensity conflict, or non conventional operations. The purpose of this outline is to provide well-documented examples of the actual combat experience of women. This provides a corrective to that construct of combat as an exclusively male or ‘masculine’ activity as discussed in the introduction and theoretical outline. It also provides a basis of comparison for the following chapters on the integration of female personnel to the PDF. The purpose of this chapter is two-fold: It is intended to establish beyond doubt for the reader the precedent of female combatants – in uniform – as a widespread phenomenon. It is also intended that this chapter serve as a context setter for the following chapters on the PDF giving them a wider perspective.

Civil Control Of The Military And Police In Ireland: The Armed Forces

Tom Clonan — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 06:13:52 PST

Independence and Civil War: Origins of Irish Defence Forces The Irish armed forces, known as the Permanent Defence Forces (PDF) or ‘Oglaigh na hEireann’ number approximately 10,000 personnel across the Naval Service, Army and Air Corps. The Defence Forces in Ireland play an active role domestically in ‘Aid to the Civil Power’ Operations or ATCP Ops with the Irish police force, An Garda Siochana. The Defence Forces are also active internationally in UN peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. As an organisation, the Irish Defence Forces is a direct descendant of the Irish Free State Army - initially formed in 1922 following the Irish War of Independence from Britain. From the inception of the Free State Army until 1954, the Irish armed forces were legislated for under the 1923 ‘Temporary Provisions Act’. This act was repealed by the Defence Act of 1954. Subsequently, the Irish Defence Forces are legislatively regulated by the Defence Acts 1954 – 1998. Throughout the turbulent years of the Irish Civil War and throughout the 1920’s, the Irish Free State Army operated under the constitutional authority provided for it under the auspices of the Irish Free State Constitution of 1922. This constitutional authority in tandem with the Temporary Provisions Act of 1923 enshrined in law the formal subordination of the Irish military to the civil authorities and the Irish houses of parliament known as the Oireachtas. Throughout the fraught period of the Civil War and subsequent war years of World War Two – known in Ireland as ‘the Emergency’ – the Irish armed forces and the Irish military authorities remained loyal to and subject to the direction and control of their civilian masters of whatever political persuasion. Over time, serving members of the Irish armed forces came to be regarded both internally within the organisation and externally in the public service generally as ‘non-political servants of the State’. Unlike some of our neighbouring EU states, the Defence Forces in Ireland are traditionally associated with compliance to the law and conformity to the twin concepts of accountability and subordination to the civil authorities. Throughout the lifetime of the Irish Republic to date, the Irish military have not been associated with independent military, political or lobbying activities. Nor have they ever been associated with any unilateral show of force, coercion or negative engagement in the democratic process.

From Bruff to the Balkans: James David Bourchier

Michael Foley — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 06:13:50 PST

James Bouchier was an Irish journalist who served as the London Times correspondent in the Balkans and especially Bulgaria. Because of his championing of the Bulgarian nationalist interest he became a hero who is still remembered nearly 90 years after his death

The History of Women in Combat

Tom Clonan — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 04:45:31 PST

Apotheosis or Apparition? Bombay and the Village in 1990s Women’s Cinema

Rashmi Sawhney — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:52:51 PST

This article examines the representation of Bombay in Aruna Raje’s Rihaee (1988) and Sai Paranjpye’s Disha (1990). It has been argued here that in both films, Bombay functions as a narrative anchor to the fictive village, which is depicted as the locus of Indian modernity. Symbolism of the village-city trope is used to reorganise the syntagm of modernity-location-gender in new relations of power and also to present alternative visions of national development within the socio-economic context of 1990s liberalisation in India. The dialectic between city and village in these films emphasises the role of memory and migration in women’s cinema, and also serves as a means to probing the relationship between gender and films in the postcolonial context.

A Political Economy of Formatted Pleasures

Edward Brennan — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:52:48 PST

This chapter argues that, by promoting audience pleasures based in the pursuit of individual and materialistic goals, most television formats are consonant with a dominant orthodoxy which sees markets as the only way to organise society . This elective affinity between format pleasures and free market ideology, however, does not come about through deliberate design. Rather it is an unintended consequence of television production’s response to economic and practical necessity. In their form, content and production practices formats are pre-adapted to the demands of a globalised media market place. This commercial logic has given formats a peculiar signature in terms of what they can and cannot represent.

Through the Lens of A "Branded Criminal": the Politics of Marginal Cinema in India

Rashmi Sawhney — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:34:24 PST

Images of Adivasis (Indian tribal communities) being displaced by the building of industries and dams have been regularly flashing across our television screens for the last twenty years or so, yet, media scholars have shown very little interest in this constituency either as producers or as audiences. This chapter argues that, contrary to the mass media’s favourite stereotype of the forest-inhabiting ‘native’, India’s tribal communities exist in a complex constellation of modernities, both urban and rural, and that many of these communities have at least a nominal contact with media cultures. One such group, the Chharas of Ahmedabad, popularly branded as a criminal tribe, has made extensive use of street theatre and film in its activism for social and political rights. Based on the case of the Chharas and on the work and biography of director Dakxin Bajrange in particular, this chapter explores issues around the politics of film production in India – how the means to production, subjectivity and speaking position, and agendas of advocacy influence the form and content of independent cinema. Further, this thread of inquiry is framed against the backdrop of Hindi and Tamil commercial cinema’s dominance of the Indian ‘social imaginary’, raising questions about the extent to which independent cinema can effect change, and the particular challenges this resistance on the part of audiences to viewing documentary films poses to historically disenfranchised groups in finding a cinematic language for self-representation.

Media Literacy

Brian O'Neill et al. — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 03:55:10 PST

Across Europe and beyond, the promotion of media literacy, for children and adults, has acquired an important public urgency. Traditional literacy is seen to be no longer sufficient for participation in today’s society. Citizens need to be media literate, it is claimed, to enable them to cope more effectively with the flood of information in today’s highly mediated societies. As teachers, politicians and policy makers everywhere struggle with this rapid shift in media culture, greater responsibility is placed on citizens for their own welfare in the new media environment. Media literacy is therefore all the more essential in enabling citizens to make sense of the opportunities available to them and to be alerted to the risks involved.

Radio Broadcasting in Europe: the Search for a Common Digital Future

Brian O'Neill et al. — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 03:55:09 PST

Europe’s radio is also characterised by a long history of being defined and driven by the state, in highly centralized fashion in the case of countries such as France (Meadel 1994), or indeed in former totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe (Paulu 1974), and along more federal or devolved lines in countries such as Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands (Kuhn 1985). The development of state broadcasting monopolies in most European countries, established in the early years of the twentieth century following the invention of sound broadcasting, has ensured that there is an enduring shared common ideological approach to radio broadcasting, which now finds expression in the field of digital radio policy.