Racism in the Irish Experience

by Steve Garner

Overview

Ireland's unique position as the only state in the European Union to have been colonised, coupled with the ambivalent experiences of Irish people within the British Empire, means that issues of 'race' in Ireland are overlaid by complex social and historical forces.

This book is a unique analysis of the racialisation of Irish identities. The author examines key phases in the historical development of an Irish 'racial' consciousness, including 16th century colonisation and 19th century immigration to America and Great Britain. He then examines the legacy of this relationship, both in terms of the new migration into Ireland and relations with indigenous minorities - travellers and Irish Jews.

Garner explores the problematic links between nationalist ideologies and racism. He assesses the economic, social and political factors framing the experience of minorities in contemporary Ireland, and places these in a broader European context.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745319971
Publisher:	Pluto Press
Publication date:	02/20/2004
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.32(w) x 8.46(h) x (d)

About the Author

Steve Garner is Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University. Throughout his academic career he has been engaged with questions such as 'What does 'race' mean?', 'How does racism work?', and 'How can racial equality be achieved?' He is the author of Racism in the Irish Experience (Pluto, 2003), Whiteness (Routledge, 2007) and Racisms (Sage, 2009).

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	viii
	Introduction	1
1	Sociological Frameworks for Understanding Racism	4
2	Money, Migrations and Attitudes	35
3	Racing the Irish in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries	69
4	The 'Filthy Aristocracy of Skin': Becoming White in the USA	91
5	In the Belly of the Beast: Nineteenth-Century Britain, Empire and the Role of 'Race' in Home Rule	114
6	Other People's Diasporas: The 'Racialisation' of the Asylum Issue	140
7	'New Racism', Old Racisms and the Role of Migratory Experience	168
8	'Remember Blanqui?': Nation State, Community and Some Paradoxes of Irish Anti-Racism	198
9	Beyond the New Socio-Economic 'Pale': Racialisation and belonging in Contemporary Ireland	225
10	Conclusions	247
	Glossary	254
	Appendices	256
Appendix 1	Surveys on Attitudes Towards Minorities and Minorities' Experiences of Racism-Discrimination in the Republic of Ireland, 1972-2001	256
Appendix 2	Address from the People of Ireland to their Countrymen and Countrywomen in America, 1842	257
	Notes	259
	Bibliography	274
	Index	298