Sociology Commons^™

The Potential For Orbital Public Transport Services In The Greater Dublin Area, David O'Connor, Colin Broderick

Conference Papers

Orbital routes are often considered a costly idea that is unpopular with transport users. Yet many cities provide them in a successful, often revenue-generating context. Those that do take a Network Effect approach to service design. The idea of orbital routes within the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) transport network has been around for some time, referenced for example in the 2002 Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) “Platform for Change” Strategy, the 2006 MVA “Dublin Bus Network Review” consultants’ study and most recently the National Transport Authority (NTA) Greater Dublin Area Draft Transport Strategy 2011-2030, where two notional orbital Quality Bus Corridors …

Madness, Maleness And Method, Darach Murphy

Conference papers

A common perception prevails in contemporary society that men don’t talk. Research such as that entitled ‘Death rather than Disclosure’ even suggests that taking one’s own life is preferred by men, than the disclosing of deep psychological distress. However a number of Men’s Groups in Dublin contradict this common and disturbing perception. These Men’s Groups contain individuals who have been affected by some of the most difficult psychological issues experienced in contemporary society. They come to the Men’s Groups in order to deal with the legacy of these issues and they do this by communicating their own personal experience in …

Achievingsustainable Tourism Futures: Putting The Dit-Achievmodel Into Practice, Jane Fitzgerald, Sheila Flanagan, Kevin Griffin

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

Who Benefits From Early Childcare Subsidy Design In Ireland?, Bernie O'Donoghue Hynes, Noirin Hayes

Articles

Best Newcomer Article

The design of policy tools reveals underlying biases that are not easily identified in policy documents. A review of two early childhood education and care subsidies in Ireland aimed at different target populations exposes differential treatment of children, parents and service providers. It also demonstrates how in a split system ‘early education’ is prioritised over ‘childcare’. The designs serve to reinforce stereotypes that enable the powerful and advantaged to accrue benefits while those perceived to be less deserving are burdened through the maldistribution of resources.

Social Tourism And Sustainable Policy: A Natural Fit, Or A Forced Relationship?, Kevin Griffin, Jane Stacey

Conference papers

The issue of Social tourism (the title of which is a much contested term) has been on the European agenda for a number of years. In Ireland, while there is a multitude of Social tourism provision there is little or no recognition for it at an official level, with the largest share of provision being at the voluntary / NGO level. At the same time, across Europe a variety of official structures promote 'tourism for all'.

This paper reflects on the various approaches that could be taken to promote Social Tourism and have it recognised as an agenda item for …

Technological University Dublin's Programme For Students Learning With Communities(Slwc): Report September 2008- September 2011, Catherine Bates, Elena Gamble, Sinead Mccann

Programme Reports

•Programme introduction: from slide 5 •Policy context: from slide 11 •Benefits of CBL/CBR: from slide 20 •Examples of projects: from slide 25 •Programme support structures: from slide 29 •Testimonials: from slide 74 •Statistics: from slide 86

PLEASE NOTE TO ACCESS ALL THE LINKS CONTAINED IN THIS PRESENTION, YOU MUST VIEW IT IN SLIDESHOW MODE THAT IS CLICK ON SLIDESHOW AND THEN VIEW SLIDESHOW.

Putting The Dit-Achiev Model Into Practice “Empowering The Tourism Industry”, Kevin Griffin, Sheila Flanagan, Jane Fitzgerald

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Rpl (Recognition Of Prior Learning) In Companies And Organisations In Ireland Valorisation, Return On Investment, And Emerging Trends, Katherine Collins

Doctoral

This thesis explored the topic of recognition of prior learning (RPL) in companies and organisations in Ireland against a backdrop of global, European, and national policy initiatives on the recognition of all forms of formal, non-formal and informal learning. The immediate context was coloured by shifts in employment, in labour markets, and in education and training policies because of increasing economic difficulties globally, and the greater levels of attention being paid to the role of education and training in the economic and social development of a country. The primary research question for the thesis was: Is there a return on …

Understanding, And Developing, Audience Engagement With Dctv, Eddie Brennan

Other

This research explores community members’ perceptions of Dublin Community Television (DCTV), its programming and its programme schedule.

Why We Don't Need An Academic Rebel Alliance, Edward Brennan

Other

As an intellectual, the first duty of the academic who wishes to engage with society is on the level of ideas, writes Eddie Brennan. Trying to build a new society within the institutions, language and politics of the nineteenth century is hopeless; what is needed from intellectuals and academics is rebellious thought.

Chastising And Romanticising Heavy Metal Subculture: Challenging The Dichotomy With Figurational Sociology, Gary Sinclair

Conference papers

This research posits that heavy metal music is part of what Elias (2009) refers to as a ‘civilising process’. He argues that as society becomes increasingly integrated we are faced with an increasing web of interdependencies and relationships where a growing intricacy is needed in order to manage ones emotions. Elias and Dunning (2008a) argue that a result of increasing restraints and the routinisation of social relationships sport and leisure has attained a greater importance in society allowing for the generation and release of mimetic emotion. Through participant observation and semi-structured interviews of heavy metal fans in Dublin, Ireland it …

Producing Governable Subjects: Images Of Childhood Old And New, Karen Smith

Articles

Conceptions of childhood in terms of ‘evil’ and ‘innocence’ transcend time and culture. These conflicting images are deployed by Chris Jenks as the Dionysian and Apollonian models of childhood to symbolize external and internal forms of control. Drawing on the literature on governmentality this paper revisits these models and introduces a third model, the ‘Athenian’ child, analogous and supplementary to those developed by Jenks. This model is necessary in order to take account of relatively recent strategies in the government of childhood, which, predicated on understandings of children in terms of competence and agency, operate via responsibility and reflexivity.

Note No. 9 Research Briefing - Governing Young Citizens: Discourses Of Childhood In Irish Social Policy, Karen Smith

Articles

No abstract provided.

Cultural And Linguistic Capital In Early Years Education And Care, Maire Mhic Mhathuna

Conference papers

This paper discusses the concept of cultural and linguistic capital in relation to early years education and care (EECE) in Ireland. Bourdieu describes cultural capital as a form of symbolic capital or non-economic asset. Linguistic capital is a subset of cultural capital and refers to linguistic competence and control of linguistic resources. At a time of great change in ECCE it is appropriate to consider the cultural references on which early childhood education and care in Ireland is premised. What is distinctly Irish about ECEC in Ireland? How do we develop an inclusive viewpoint that values the totality of our …

Carlingford Business Survey, 2011, Kevin Griffin, Sheila Flanagan, Elizabeth Kennedy-Burke, Jane Fitzgerald, Maeve Morrissey

Reports / Surveys

No abstract provided.

An Appraisal Of The National Transport Authority Corporate Structure, David O'Connor

Conference Papers

The National Transport Authority was established originally as a land-use and transport planning agency whose aim was to coordinate and integrate transport infrastructure and service delivery in the Greater Dublin Area and, subsequently, to manage public passenger transport licensing nationally. This paper looks at the corporate structure of the NTA and, comparing it to other transport systems, assesses its incorporation, particularly in terms of accountability.

Many analysts consider institutional arrangement as the most fundamental aspect of delivering effective transport systems. A range of governance systems exist for urban transport authorities. The NTA most closely reflects the model of a public …

Youth Work As A Public Good: Older Teenager's Experiences Of Youth Services In Dulbin, Matt Bowden, Kerri Lanigan

Articles

In the context of consumerism, individualism and the privatisation of young people’s leisure, youth work struggles to attract young people, especially those aged 15 to 9 years. Drawing from a study exploring young people’s perspectives on participation in youth services, it is argued that youth work offers a type of public and civic engagement that is not on offer from consumption-based activities. While certain activities attract young people into youth work, what maintains their participation is the sense of belonging they experience and the opportunity to participate meaningfully in decision making. In this regard the youth work sector needs to …

Civilizing Processes, Paddy Dolan

Books/Book chapters

The theory of “civilizing processes” was developed by Norbert Elias in the 1930s to describe and explain the generation of higher standards of various forms of conduct in the context of unplanned but structured changes in state formation and lengthening chains of social interdependencies (Elias 2000). The idea of civilized conduct may seem a strange companion to popular understandings of consumer culture, when the latter phrase is often associated with hedonism, individualism and excess. But consumer cultures do refer to the meanings, values, emotions and practices surrounding the use of goods and services, including how people use their bodies through …

Using An Adaptive Scenarios Approach To Establish Strategies For Tomorrow’S Workplace, Ruth Saurin, John Radcliffe

Articles

This paper aims to demonstrate that it is important to have a methodological process that is reflexive and flexible to achieve fluid interactions that add rigour and energy to the overall process of a built environment project. Therefore, it outlines three phases of the Prospective Through Scenarios futures process used in a study called the “Workplace of the Future”. It also discusses how and why the methodology evolved during the course of the project with participant feedback as the main source of information for the analysis. Furthermore, novel qualitative futures techniques have been applied to a discipline that is usually …

Carlingford Visitor Survey, 2011, Kevin Griffin, Elizabeth Kennedy-Burke, Jane Fitzgerald, Sheila Flanagan, Maeve Morrissey

Reports / Surveys

No abstract provided.

Carlingford Resident Survey, 2011, Kevin Griffin, Elizabeth Kennedy-Burke, Sheila Flanagan, Jane Fitzgerald, Maeve Morrissey

Reports / Surveys

No abstract provided.

Inside The Black Box An Exploration Of The Impact Of Action And Activity In The Inner Spheres Of Policy Making On Early Childhood Education And Care Policy, Siobhan Bradley

Doctoral

While ECEC policy decisions usually reflect the predominant ideological stance of those actors involved, they also represent the outcome of a battle over values and objectives as vested interests within the inner spheres of policy making debate, contest and negotiate the nature of the problem and prescribe solutions to remedy it. Despite the integral importance of these processes, few studies explore how action and activity in these less visible arenas impact on policy design and outcome. By shifting the focus of policy analysis from the reified product of policy decisions to the behind the scenes processes of policy production, this …

The Discursive Construction Of Irish Early Childhood Education And Care Policy: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Rachel Kiersey

Doctoral

Conceptual distinctions between care and early childhood education have influenced and reinforced the construction of knowledge about the early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy area. Discursive constructions in policy texts permeate wider society and become embodied in the broad social domain as “truths”, establishing the status quo about how social issues are perceived. Close scrutiny of the knowledge constructed about key concepts within Irish ECEC policy texts between 1998 and 2008 can shed some light on the ideological perspectives shaping the truths about ECEC in Irish society. This research used a critical discourse analysis (CDA) methodology to investigate policy …

Reporting The Rhetoric, Implementation Of The United Nations Convention On The Rights Of The Child As Represented In Ireland's Second Report To The Un Committee On The Rights Of The Child: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Rachel Kiersey, Noirin Hayes

Articles

Ireland’s second periodic report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) presents the government’s case that it is succeeding in protecting and promoting the rights of all children in Ireland. This article presents a critical discourse analysis of the governments Report to the CRC. Using a refined critical discourse analysis (CDA) model, based on the framework proposed by Chouliaraki & Fairclough (1999); the linguistic structure of the Report is examined alongside consideration of the wider socio-political context in which it exists. The Report is itself a promotional genre . It lists legislative change, strategy plans …

Irish Healthcare; The Evidence On Communicating Policy., Vivienne Byers

Conference Papers

The complexity of the health care environment necessitates that health policy, legislative objectives, resource allocation models, and management structures be aligned to plan and deliver healthcare services strategically. Policy in the Irish health care system is guided by the National Health Strategy of 2001; in that there should be equitable distribution of health services focused on the need of the citizen-client. Though the Strategy uses the words ‘evidence based’, ‘population health’, ‘equity’, ‘people-centred’ and ‘health and social gain’, there is little evidence that these concepts have gained purchase in the present implementation of policy and planning in Irish health care …

I Do Like Them But I Don’T Watch Them: Preschoolers’ Use Of Age As An Accounting Device In Consumption Evaluations, Olivia Freeman

Conference papers

This paper derives from a broader study of children’s consumer culture, specifically an investigation into how preschoolers employ commercial discourses as the building blocks of social selves and relations. Age-based repertoires are found to colour the various discourses produced. ‘Age’ is conceptualised as something that is made sense of for and by children through their utilisation of toys, media, consumables and other commercial artefacts. The ‘choosing child’ is addressed in empirical terms to reveal the social significance of ‘doing’ consumption related evaluations in the focus group setting. A CA-informed discourse analytic approach is utilised to focus on one aspect of …

Constructing And Disrupting Ireland's Industrial Development Authority, Paul Donnelly

Articles

Actor-network theory is considered to have great potential for broadening and deepening our grasp of institutional work (LAWRENCE; SUDDABY, 2006). Given its focus on process, ANT offers a means to breathe life into the practices associated with institutionalization. With Callon’s (1986) four moments of translation as analytical lens, and with Ireland’s Industrial Development Authority as empirical example, I seek to address the concerns of Clegg and Machado da Silva (2009) by reconsidering “the role of agency, power, persistence and change in the process of institutionalization”.

Women's Ways Of Engagement: Explorations Of Gender, The Scholarship Of Engagement And Institutional Rewards Policy And Practice., Elaine Ward

Other resources

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the promotion and tenure experiences of women faculty who carry out community-engaged scholarship. Purposive sampling of women faculty members nationwide who received national recognition for their work as community-engaged scholars was conducted. In depth semi-structured interviews, personal written scholarship narratives, written personal promotion and tenure narratives and other written documents provide the oral and written data analyzed in this study. Feminist theory guides this study. More specifically, the works of Reinharz (1992), Naples (2003), Belenky and colleagues (1986, 1997) guide this study’s exploration into feminist methods, methodology, and epistemology and the …

Arís Is Arís Eile: Scéalta Mar Ais Teanga Sa Naíonra, Maire Mhic Mhathuna

Articles

Achoimre Déantar cur síos san alt seo ar ról na scéalta agus na leabhar mar áis fhoghlamtha teanga is scéalaíochta sa naíonra Gaelach. Déantar anailís ar an teoiric a bhaineann le forbairt na teanga is na scéalaíochta féin sa chéad is sa dara teanga. Deineadh cluastaifeadadh ar na seisiúin scéalaíochta i naíonra Gaelach amháin gach coicís ar feadh sé mhí. Scagadh na hathscríbhinní chun féachaint cén modh scéalaíochta a bhí in úsáid ag na stiúrthóirí is cén dul chun cinn a bhí á dhéanamh ag na páistí. Tugtar cuntas anseo ar na straitéisí scéalaíochta a bhí in úsáid ag na …

Holiday Home, Sweet Home: A Phenomenological Approach To Second Home Living In Ireland, Deirdre N. Quinn

Doctoral

This study constructs a phenomenological account of the second home living experience in Ireland, exploring the interactions between the everyday home life and the holiday home life of the second home owner. It is contextualized by a critical review of the relevant literatures on post-modernism, cosmopolitanism, home and second home living. The thesis utilises a package of participant-centred qualitative methodologies (including in-depth interviews, audio diaries and participants’ photographs) in order to produce a fine-grained insight into their experiences of second home living.

The fieldwork consists of two phases, the first based on in-depth interviews with second home owners and the …