The Irish Women's Movement: From Revolution to Devolution

by Linda Connolly

Overview

This superbly incisive, comprehensive history of the Irish women’s movement from the 1860s to the twenty-first century – appearing for the first time in paperback – shows how a network of constituent organizations and individuals was transformed into an engine of social change. While feminism is a major intellectual and political tradition in Ireland, it has been misrepresented and misunderstood in mainstream Irish studies. This survey of key historical and contemporary perspectives redresses that imbalance. It demonstrates how the women’s movement fundamentally challenged established interpretations of the way in which modern Irish society has evolved over time, creating new theoretical directions in Irish studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781843510253
Publisher:	Lilliput Press, Limited, The
Publication date:	06/09/2003
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.45(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

LINDA CONNOLLY is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Cork, Ireland.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	ix
	List of Abbreviations	x
	Introduction: Theory and Method	xi
Part I	History, Culture and ... Society? Controversies in Irish Studies
1	Irish Women: Late Developers?	3
2	Movement in Abeyance: the Historical Connection	56
Part II	The Movement
3	Second-Wave Feminism and Equal Rights: Collective Action through Established Means	89
4	The Irish Women's Liberation Movement: Radicalism, Direct Action, Confrontation	111
5	Irishwomen United: Political and Ideological Conflict	130
6	Changing Orientations and Reappraisal in the 1980s: Abortion, Politics and the Course of Modernity	155
Part III	Feminist Politics and Irish Society: Impact and Change?
7	Facing up to Difference: Formalisation and New Directions in the 1990s	187
8	Conclusions: Whither the Women's Movement?	211
	Appendixes	231
Appendix 1	Organisational Archives and Documents Consulted	231
Appendix 2	Service Organisations Established in the 1970s	234
Appendix 3	Chronology: the First Wave 1860-1921	236
Appendix 4	Chronology: the Post-Independence Decades, 1922-69	237
Appendix 5	Chronology: Second-Wave Feminism	239
Appendix 6	Legal Chronology: Reproductive and Constitutional Rights	242
Appendix 7	The Abortion Referendum Campaign: a Detailed Chronology 1981-83	245
	Notes	249
	Bibliography	266
	Index	292

Editorial Reviews

'...a rich, detailed, and well-documented investigation of Irish women's activism...' - Karen Beckwith, American Journal of Sociology

'...Connolly has combined social movement theory with original qualitative research to provide an innovative alternative theoretical framework to the current grand narratives that dominate Irish studies, and in so doing has offered a new interpretation of how Irish society has changed and developed...essential reading for sociologists and feminists alike.' - Patricia Kachuk, University of British Columbia, Candadian Journal of Sociology Online

'...Connolly's comprehensive account of the origins, evolution and impact of the twentieth-century Irish women's movement is a welcome addition to existing scholarship.' - Catherine B.Shannon, National University of Ireland, Galway, Irish Studies Review

From the Publisher