Power, Conflict and Ideologies

Cluster Themes

Theorising social power

The focus of this research theme is on the classical and contemporary social theory approaches to social and political power. More specifically this includes the conceptual analysis of coercion, consensus and power, the relationships between power, modernity and social order, political philosophy of power, the politics of order and the construction of the abnormal.

Nationalism, populism and ethnic conflict

This research theme addresses the theoretical and comparative analyses of conflict and cultural difference. In particular the emphasis is on the sociological theories of ethnicity and nationalism, ethnic conflict in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, and Rwanda, the relationships between ethnicity, nationalism and organised violence, the sociology of warfare, populism and agrarian politics in rural Ireland and nationalism, liberalism and modernity.

Hegemony, ideology and legitimacy

The key issues explored in this research theme include theories of ideology, discourse and hegemony, the discourses of social exclusion and modernity, neo-liberalism, the state and civil society, theorizing inequality and the domain of ’welfare, theorizing the social and the work in social work and rhetoric and ideology.

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