Spacing Ireland

In light of the innumerable interventions that characterise the transformation of Ireland over the last two decades, Spacing Ireland: Place, society and culture in a post-boom era interrogates questions of 'space' and 'place' to understand the nature of major social, cultural and economic change in contemporary Ireland. The book recognises how the events of the last twenty years reshaped Irish society, unravelling its ethnic and cultural homogeneity, restructuring its internal relationships, and altering its links with Europe and the rest of the world. Contributors approach the common concern for 'space' from their own diverse areas of interest, and each registers the spatial signature of the Celtic Tiger and its aftermath to varying degrees. The authors explore the intersections between everyday life and global exchanges through the contexts of the 'stuff' of contemporary everyday encounters: food, housing, leisure, migration, music, shopping, travel and work. These are the multiple layers of space we now inhabit. Ireland is a turbulent place. It is fruitful to consider the contemporary geographies of the island through the various and multiple forms where change is expressed. The wide range of topics addressed in the collection and the plurality of spaces they represent make the book appealing not only to students and academics, but to anyone who follows social, cultural and economic developments in Ireland.