Peadar Kirby

Menu
  • Home
  • Lecturing
    • Dublin City University
    • University of Limerick
  • Publications
    • Academic Books
    • Academic Journal Articles
    • Book Chapters
    • Book Reviews
    • Journalism
    • Lecturing
    • Pamphlets and Working Papers
  • Blog
  • Contact
Menu

Welcome back/Fáilte thar n-ais…

Posted on January 24, 2019January 24, 2019 by peadarkirby

After a long absence I’m back blogging. The absence was caused by technical problems with my website which it has taken some time to resolve but here I now am, live and eager to get back to commenting on and analysing the momentous events shaping our contemporary world. As always, I welcome comments and vigorous debate, though I hope we can avoid the vitriol, personal insults, assertions that have no empirical basis and posturing that unfortunately mar public debate today.

I hope over the coming months to look at the huge challenges that are facing humanity at this turning point in our history on this planet: clearly the two very different challenges of climate change and of artificial intelligence/robotisation are pushing human civilisation to the limit. At this very time, we are entering an era in which politics seems to be fragmenting into a new volatility and irrationality, making coherent action to address these challenges seemingly impossible. Yet, there are signs of hope – in the mobilisation of citizens after a time of widespread quiescence, in the breaking open of the iron cage of neoliberalism and elite rule that has characterised the period since the 1980s, and in the ways that climate change is forcing us to look anew at our destructive relationships with the natural world on which we depend.

So, perhaps more than every before in human history, everything is to play for and the nature of the future facing us is in our hands to shape. I will be developing my ideas around how we work to shape that future and the sort of future we can shape if we mobilise to do so. As I write a new book, drawing on the insights of Karl Polanyi addressing the need to transform market society in this era of climate change, I’ll be testing out ideas and proposing analyses of the possibilities for agency amid the structural constraints and opportunities of the present. Come on the journey with me…. Beidh mé ag feitheamh ort.

Post Views: 551

1 thought on “Welcome back/Fáilte thar n-ais…”

  1. Marguerite McEntee says:
    March 13, 2019 at 10:32 pm

    Great to see your site back in action!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Blog Posts

  • Beyond Coronavirus: Contributions from Karl Polanyi
  • Covid-19 and climate change: will it help or hinder?
  • New development model is biggest challenge for next government
  • Reinventing Sinn Féin as a left-wing party

New book from Peadar Kirby

Karl Polanyi and the Contemporary Political Crisis: Transforming Market Society in the Era of Climate Change

Has politics reached breaking point? Rather than defending liberalism or abandoning it, how can a socially just and ecological alternative be built? My new book investigates the causes of our current multifaceted global crisis by drawing on the work of Karl Polanyi. This book explores Polanyi’s theory that social disruptions result from the attempt to run society according to the rules of the market. Drawing on these ideas, it outlines pathways towards an alternative future that overcome weaknesses in Marxism. Linking the ecological, political and socio-economic crises, The book identifies that an alternative socio-ecological model is emerging, consistent with the insights of Polanyi. Karl Polanyi and the Contemporary Political Crisis is being published in early December 2020 and is a contribution to key debates on the future of politics, on the low-carbon transition, on automation and on the emerging world order

Categories

Pages

  • #2 (no title)
  • #21 (no title)
  • Academic Books
  • Academic Journal Articles
  • Book Chapters
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact
  • Journalism
  • Lectures DCU
  • Lectures UL
  • Lecturing
  • Pamphlets and Working Papers
  • Publications

Archives

©2021 Peadar Kirby | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes