Mobilising classics : reading radical writing in Ireland / edited by Fiona Dukelow and Orla O'Donovan

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man. Bernadette McAliskey -- William Thompson's Practical Education for the South of Ireland. Eileen O'Carroll -- James Connolly's Labour in Irish History. Fintan Lane -- Robert Tressel's The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. Rosie Meade -- Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex. Fiona Dukelow -- Thomas Szasz's The Myth of Mental Illness. Orla McDonnell -- Up Kwame Ture and Charles Hamilton's Black Power: The Politics of Liberation. Robbie McVeigh -- Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Mark Garavan -- Ivan Illich's Tools for Conviviality. Orla O'Donovan -- Up Adrienne Rich's On Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence. Tina O'Toole -- the Brundtland Committee's Our Common Future. Hilary Tovey

The names of authors such as Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, James Connolly, Paulo Freire and Ivan Illich may be familiar, but few people venture to read the original works of these influential writers. Similarly, the terms patriarchy, institutional racism, alienation and sustainable development may be familiar but often this familiarity is removed from the analytical contexts in which these ideas emerged. This book provides a series of rich reflections on the interaction between the radical ideas associated with these and other authors, and political action in Ireland. The classic texts that comprise the focal point for each chapter were selected by the contributors, many of whom straddle the boundaries of academia and activism. Each essay provides an account of the contributor's personal encounters with the text, opens up the key mobilising ideas and considers how the text has the potential invigorate the political imagination of contemporary oppositional politics. Spanning three centuries, the texts range from Thomas Paine's The rights of man published in 1791 to Our common future, published in 1987 and include a novel, a set of letters, a short essay, a progress report on conversations, and a philosophical tome. The volume highlights how radical writing can serve to counter the resignations of the currently dominant 'there is no alternative' thinking and illustrates the political significance and enduring relevance of these mobilising classics. This book will be of interest to students in the social sciences, especially sociology and Irish studies and will appeal to those interested or involved in political activism of any variety.