Showcasing Globalisation? The Political Economy of the Irish Republic

Despite the enormous academic debate about the impact of globalisation on national policy-making, surprisingly few authors choose to explore specific national contexts in significant detail. Yet such an approach can reveal a great deal about the dynamics of change in contemporary political economies. This book examines in-depth what is perhaps the test case for globalisation: the Irish Republic. Not only is Ireland hailed as the most globalised economy in the world, but its transformation into the Celtic Tiger in the 1990s is seen to demonstrate how nations can flourish in the new global economy. By implication, if other countries are to emulate Ireland's success they too must submit to the exogenous forces of globalisation. The book critically assesses such claims, exploring what if anything the term globalisation can reveal about the Irish case and, indeed, what the Irish case can reveal about globalisation. In so doing, it emphasises the need to unpack processes of economic and policy change, highlighting their complexity and contingency.