Staff

Áine Macken-Walsh

Adjunct Lecturer

Teagasc Partnership Coordinator

Ph.D. (Sociology) National University of Ireland, Galway
M.A. (Human Rights and Democratisation) University of Padova, Italy.
B.A. (Political Science and Sociology; French) National University of Ireland, Galway

Office: Teagasc Rural Economy Research Centre (RERC), Mellow’s Campus, Athenry, Co. Galway
Telephone: 353 (0)91 845241
Email: aine.mackenwalshteagasc.ie

Member of the Gender, Empowerment and Globalisation Research Cluster and the Governance and Sustainable Development Research Cluster

Profile

Áine Macken-Walsh is a permanent member of research staff at Teagasc’s Rural Economy Research Centre (RERC) and Adjunct Lecturer at the School of Political Science and Sociology. Her main research interests are rural sociology, EU governance and rural development, and socio-cultural systems underpinning agriculture and fishing. Áine’s post-graduate studies focussed on rights-based approaches to development and influences arising from the post-socialist institutional setting on the operationalisation of the governance and rural development model. These projects were facilitated by a scholarship awarded by the European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (2002) and funding received from an EC 5th Framework Project, Integrated Development of Agricultural and Rural Institutions in CEE (IDARI) (2003-2006).

In 2006, Áine joined Teagasc’s Rural Economy Research Centre (RERC). Her first project, supported by the NDP (2000-2006) and the ICERTS Beaufort Marine Award (2008-2015), was a sociological study of ’barriers to change’ experienced by Irish farmers and fishers in the context of contemporary rural development policy. She is currently the principal investigator of a research programme which seeks to explore the socio-cultural factors influencing farmer behaviour in the context of post-productivist policy measures and shared farming institutional arrangements (2009-2012). Áine is collaborating with colleagues at the School of Political Science and Sociology on this research programme and in the supervision of a PhD project on women’s agency in contemporary rural development, funded through Teagasc’s Walsh Fellowship Scheme.

Teaching

Arts Faculty Structured PhD Programme
M.A. Gender, Globalisation and Rights

Research Interests

Rural sociology, EU governance and rural development, and socio-cultural systems underpinning agriculture and fishing.

Selected Publications

Macken-Walsh, A. (forthcoming) Partnership and Subsidiarity? Exploring the Socio-Cultural Context of Irish Farmers’ Non-Participation in Contemporary Rural Development, Rural Society Journal, ISSN 1037-1656

Macken-Walsh, A. (2011), The Potential of an "Agriculture of the Middle" Model in the Context of EU Rural Development, Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Rural Development, Vol. 1 Issue 4 ISSN 2152-0801

Macken-Walsh, A. (2011), Governance, Rural Development & Farmers’ Participation in Local Food Movements: an Irish case-study, in eds. Torre, A., Traversac J.B., Territorial Governance, Rural Areas and Agrofood Systems, Regional Development Series, Springer ISBN: 978-3-7908-2421-6.

Macken-Walsh, A. (2009) Barriers to Change: a sociological study of rural development in Ireland, Teagasc, ISBN: 1-84170-542-X.  >> Download a PDF copy of this publication.

Macken-Walsh, A. (2009) Community Action in Post-Socialist Lithuania, Journal of Community Development. Oxford University Press, ISSN 0010-3802, Autumn.

Macken-Walsh, A. (2007) Community Action in Post-Socialist Lithuania: A Comparative Case Study of Two Rural Villages, in eds. Heinonen, M., Nikula, J., Kopotova, I., Granberg, L. Reflecting Transformation in Post-Socialist Rural Areas, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, ISBN 1-84718-128-7.

Supervision of Research

Maria Feeney (PhD candidate), “Rural Men and Suicide: Risks and Vulnerabilities” (2007-ongoing) Co-supervised by Dr. Anne Cleary, School of Sociology, UCD.

Tanya Watson (PhD candidate), “Women’s Narratives – from ’Rural Women’ to ’Women in the Countryside’? Investigating Women’s Subjectivities, Identities, and Agency for Sustainable Rural Development” (2008 – ongoing) Co-supervised by Dr. Anne Byrne, Dr. Nata Duvvury, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUIG.

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