Ireland in a Global Context, 1922-2002

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Irish history in the twentieth century is often thought of as the story of ‘ourselves alone'. But for centuries this island's fortunes have been shaped as much by what happens outside its boundaries as what happens within it. In this module, we will study the history of Ireland in the twentieth century as part of a broader history of Europe and the Western world. We will examine the origins of the Free State in the wider anti-colonial moment happening in Europe, Africa and Asia in the 1910s and 1920s, and view the rise of the Blueshirts as part of a growing right-wing authoritarianism in Europe in the following decade. Changes in Irish society after the Second World War - Americanisation, consumerism, the rise of student groups and social movements - were all part of a radical shift in state and society in Europe and North America from the 1940s to the 1970s. So too was the resurgence of Irish popular culture: from rock and roll to Hollywood, Irish artists spoke in new, global languages. The module concludes by taking a look at the social changes that accompanied the shift to a neo-liberal system in the last three decades of the twentieth century, and how the Irish experience of declining religious practice, rising consumerism, the power of the individual, and the importance of ‘the market', were symptomatic of what was happening all over the Western world.