Previous Research (St. Declan's)

Dr Allyn Fives

Dr Allyn Fives is a graduate of NUI Galway, who studied for his MA in Essex and received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh. His most recent publication is Political and Philosophical Debates in Welfare, published wiith Palgrave MacMillan (2008).

He describes another recently published book: Modernity, Theory, and the Welfare State as follows:

I have been commissioned by Palgrave to write Modernity, Theory, and the Welfare State. This book arises from my experiences as course convener of 'Theories of the Welfare State'. It is concerned with the various accounts offered of the modern welfare state and modern political theory.

Any political theory of the welfare state must answer two questions. What is welfare? and how are entitlements justified? In answering these questions, a theory hopes to account for the political guarantee to each individual of a generalizable entitlement to welfare.

In Part 1 of the book I look at four normative political theories of welfare: utilitarianism, liberalism, conservatism, socialism. They are concerned with the way in which an entitlement to welfare can be justified. First, the chapter on utilitarianism looks at both Mill's perfectionism and Goodin's defence of an unconditional basic income. Second, I discuss the debate between Rawls's egalitarian liberalism and Nozick's libertarianism. I then look at the differences within conservatism between Nisbet and Fukuyama on one side, and Durkheim and Perkin on the other. And fourth, I look at the socialist theories put forward by Marx, Esping-Andersen, Tawney, and Crosland. 

In Part 2 I turn to recent developments in the political theory of welfare: political liberalism, communitarianism, radicalism, and social democracy. I look first at the communitarian and feminist critiques of Rawls, and Rawls's response, 'political liberalism'. Then I address the communitarian debate in more detail, in particular the work of Walzer, Taylor, and MacIntyre. Radical theories of power are discussed next, including Bauman's post-modernism and Habermas's critical theory. Finally, recent discussions within socialism are addressed, including Giddens's Third Way, Cohen's voluntary egalitarianism, Plant's liberal socialism, and Keat's communitarianism.

Current Research

A consistent theme in my research to date has been a concern with moral and political philosophy. I have focused on contemporary political philosophy, Aristotle's ethics, the political theory of the welfare state, and continental social theory.

My current research analyses different accounts of practical rationality and justice, in the work of Aristotle, John Rawls, Alasdair MacIntyre, Martha Nussbaum, and G. A. Cohen. This builds on experience gained during my PhD, which analysed Gadamer's Aristotelian ethics and contemporary political philosophy.

In my current research I ask, can an interpretation of justice provide foundations for political morality? I aim to demonstrate that contemporary political philosophy fails to do so, and that an Aristotelian virtue ethics, influenced by Hume and Mill, can succeed. I want to show that justice, as a virtue, is constitutive of the human good. This research joins together the humanities and social sciences, combining political philosophy, moral philosophy, and political science.

Some recent publications

(2007) Modernity, Theory, and the Welfare State (Palgrave Macmillan)

(2005) 'Virtue, Justice and the Human Good: Non-relative communitarian ethics and the life of religious commitment', Contemporary Politics, Vol. 11, No. 2-3.

(2005) 'Review of Preventing the Future, by Tom Garvin', Irish Studies Review, 13. 3.

(2003) 'Are identity and social justice compatible?', pp. 71-92, in C. J. A. Stewart, K. G. Francis, A.K. Dorman-Jackson (eds.) The Politics of Contesting Identity (Edinburgh University Press)

(2006) 'Review of The many Faces of Individualism, edited by A. Harskamp and A. Musschenga', for Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (Forthcoming)

Teaching Interests

Moral and Political Philosophy

History of Political Philosophy

Theories of the Welfare State

Applied Ethics

Research Interests

Aristotelian ethics [Alasdair MacIntyre, Martha Nussbaum], virtue ethics, political morality, Rawls's liberalism, G.A. Cohen, Richard Tawney, normative justifications of welfare, H.-G. Gadamer.

Allyn may be contacted by email at allyn.fivesnuigalway.ie

Dr Liam Leonard

Liam completed his PhD Thesis on Environmental Campaigns in Ireland for the Department of Political Science & Sociology and the Environmental Change Institute, at NUI Galway in 2005. He currently teaches part-time in the Department of Political Science and Sociology. His research interests are: Social and Environmental Movements; Case Study Methodologies; Environmental Politics, EU Environmental Policy and Responses; Political Theory and Policy Formation; the Politics of Communications Technology and Protest; Environmental Policy and Management; Rural Discourse and Community Interaction with the Landscape; Resiliency Building through Participation: Community Access to 3rd Level. Disabilities Rights & Activism.  

A new Book by Dr. Liam Leonard, The Environmental Movement in Ireland (with a forward by John Barry) has just been published (2008). Collective responses to Ireland's dramatic transformation from a primarily agrarian and rural society to an industrialised economy obsessed by rapid growth and development occurred in two phases: Phase One took place between the "No Nukes" protests of the late 1970's when campaigns targeted multinational plants or infrastructural projects perceived as a pollution threat during years of economic stagnation. Phase Two occurred after economic buoyancy was achieved, as the demands of rapid growth threatened communities, the environment and Irish heritage in the face of major infrastructural projects such as roads, incinerators and gas pipelines.

Starting with the Woodquay protests in Dublin, the "No Nukes" protests at Carnsore Point, the 'Shell to Sea' campaign in Mayo and the campaign to save Tara from destruction, these significant ecological campaigns, based on the community's localised sense of place or rural sentiment, have formed the response to these challenges which are analysed here using social movement theories such as resource mobilisation, political opportunity, framing and event analysis.

The book is written for graduate students and researchers interested in environment, sociology, political science and Irish heritage. Keywords:Ireland, Irish heritage, environmental theory, rural sentiment, social movements.

Publications:

Leonard, L. (2007) The Irish Environmental Movement, Dordrecht: Springer.

.............. (2005) Politics Inflamed: GSE and the Campaign against Incineration in Galway. Greenhouse Press Ecopolitics Series Vol.1. Drogheda: Choice Publishing.

............... (2006) Green Nation: The Irish Environmental Movement in Ireland from Carnsore Point to the Rossport Five. Greenhouse Press Ecopolitics Series Vol.2. Drogheda: Choice Publishing

............. (2007) Environmentalism in Ireland: Politics & Place. The Ecopolitics Series Second Edition. (Forthcoming)

............ (2007) (Eds) with Vincent Salafia Understanding Heritage: A Multidisciplinary Approach (forthcoming)

2002 - 'Politics of Protest: GSE's Campaign against Incineration. Review of Postgraduate Studies Vol.10, NUI Galway

2003 - 'Communication Technologies' Review of Postgraduate Studies Vol. 11, NUI Galway

2006 ' 'The Moral Framing of a Resource Dispute' Studies Irish Review. Winter

2007 - Leonard, L. (2006) 'Towards an Understanding of a Territorial Resource Dispute: The "Shell to Sea" Campaign in North Mayo', Irish Journal of Sociology, Dublin: UCD, Autumn 2007

2007 - 'Environmental Movements and Internet Technology' Irish Communications Review. Dublin: DIT

2007 -  'Utopias, ecotopias and green communities: Exploring the patterns of resettlement and living of green idealists' Galway: Ecopolitics Online Journal, Vol 1, No 1 (Ed).

2007 -  'The Galway Water Crisis' in Studies: Irish Quarterly Review, Dublin: Winter 2007

2007 - 'Environmentalism in Ireland: Ecomodernism versus Ecopopulism' Environmental Values, Winter 2007

2007 -  Profile: 'Dancing with the Devil or Playing for Power: the Irish Greens in the 2007 General Election', Environmental Politics, Winter 2007

2007 - Review of the Blame Game (2007 Irish Academic Press) by Flynn, B. in Studies: Irish Quarterly Review, Dublin: May 2007

Former Postgraduate Researcher

Martin Power, Faculty of Arts Fellowship Recipient

Martin's PhD thesis is "Risk, Science and Blood: The Politics of an Iatrogenic Disaster", and his supervisor is Dr. George Taylor.

There can be little doubt that risk and its relation to both science and politics has become of increasing importance to politicians, scientists, administrators, the media and public.  Whether it be avian bird flu, global warming, mad cow disease or any one of a host of other 'potential' risks, the complex and often inconclusive pronouncements of science and more importantly their management by politicians has gripped not only society, but is now an area of increased interest to academics. Situated within such debates, the Ph.D. investigates the complex relationships between risk, science and politics in blood provision.  Focused on Ireland and the United Kingdom the thesis examines the significant impact that the hepatitis C and AIDS crisis's had on blood supplies. While AIDS in particular, has drawn the attention of political and social scientists, its impact on blood provision has received rather limited attention.  What few discussions do exist have tended to focus on the voluntary/paid (or social democratic/market) dichotomy in provision, and how responses were channelled within this framework.  The thesis attempts to addresses this failing and argues that 'crisis' such as hepatitis and AIDS, which are often depicted as a failure to distinguish between 'right' or 'wrong' science, can only be understood if account is taken of the forces that have transformed and continue to impact upon the interventionist state.

Risk and policies to mitigate or reduce it are after all the result of complex interactions, ones not simply confined to science and politics, but rather which involve governments, scientific and medical communities, multi-national companies and consumers.   Indeed, it is important to our understanding of events, past, present and future that we acknowledge that 'risk' as conceptualised in social democratic terms does not exist in the same form within the market.  The notion of pre-caution is irrelevant in the market, since 'risk' is simply an actuarial insurance exercise.

Within such a framework the role of science encompasses not just the identification of 'risk', but has been re-configured so that its role is now to define definitively whether a product is dangerous and if so to demarcate where 'insured' culpability rests. With debate on risk, its assessment, management and communication intensifying this study will not only add too, and develop understanding of, the relationships between risk, science and politics, but will also provide the basis for subsequent research.  In the shorter-term the intention is to focus on a comparative study between Ireland and Finland.

While both countries have a number of similarities in terms of the AIDS crisis, low prevalence in the population, peripheral geographical location and voluntary blood donor systems, Finland unlike Ireland did not experience AIDS as an iatrogenic disaster.  Following from and developing on this study, Martin's intention is to focus my research in two areas that he has only been able to touch upon in the Ph.D., the impact of technological advances in areas such as risk, and the role and power of epistemic communities.

• Disclaimer
• Privacy
• Copyright
• Accessibility