The 12th Annual NERI Dónal Nevin Lecture took place in the Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, D02 HH58 on Thursday 5 December 2024 from 18:00 - 19:45.
Professor Mary Murphy, Department of Sociology, Maynooth University delivered the annual lecture as the keynote speaker.
The Lecture was followed by the launch of a special issue of the Studies quarterly journal from 20:00 - 20:15 at the drinks reception.
Find the agenda for the Lecture and Launch.
Please find Professor Mary Murphy, Maynooth Universities presentation and Dr. Larry O'Connell, NESC's response to Professor Murphy's keynote presentation. Also, the video of the lecture.
The details as follows:
Title: 'A new all island social settlement; An eco-social future of care and equality'
Keynote speaker: Professor Mary Murphy, Department of Sociology, Maynooth University
Respondent: Dr. Larry O'Connell, Director of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC)
Chairperson: Ms. Katie Morgan, Head of Services & Enterprise Division, Fórsa
Date: Thursday 5 December 2024
Time: 18:00 - 19:45
Location: Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, D02 HH58
Lecture Format:
Professor Mary Murphy, Department of Sociology, Maynooth University made her presentation for 50-minutes. This will be followed by a 20-minute respondent discussion by Dr. Larry O'Connell, Director, NESC. The chairperson Katie Morgan, Fórsa chaired the Q&A session and put forward questions to both Professor Murphy and Dr. O'Connell.
Abstract:
Our present liberal model of development, north and south, is overly fixated on the market and economic growth, this determines labour market policy and informs its unequal outcomes. This gendered model was never and remains, unfit for purpose. From the perspective of both ecological sustainability and social well-being we need a different political economy. A new model of development would rebalance of state, market and society and, rather than growth and finance, would place care, equality and well-being at its centre. This new social settlement needs to have an eco-social logic, policy direction has to be steered by the intertwined goals of ecological sustainability and social equality, what is good for one policy goal has to be good for the other, neither can be pursued at the expense of the other. A sheco-social model has care of people and planet as its driving force, and highlights how prioritising an intersectional form of gender equality offer an effective compass point guiding towards the future. This future will be more place based and local but can be usefully framed in an all island democratic framework. Ensuring care, time, services, work, income, wealth, power and participation are more equally distributed will lead to greater ecological, social and political sustainability.
This lecture will first document how inequality is at the heart of debates about climate change, drawing particular attention to gendered dimensions of that dynamic and the everyday reality of our contemporary political economy in Ireland, North and South. Arguing for institutional imagination, while grounded in the present, the lecture then argues for a new social settlement to transform our economy, our labour market and our society. The argument is for an eco-social future where care and well-being replace growth as the central logic of our development. From a labour market perspective this requires shifting from productivist forms of work that contribute to carbon emissions to forms of work, paid and unpaid, that socially value social reproduction, that enable us collectively meet our needs and are less carbon emitting. Institutional innovation is needed but we must also draw on the seeds of existing strengths, North and South, as we move towards lasting transformative and systemic change; 5 guiding steps are briefly sketched:
- A Participation Income, north and south, a less productivist form of universal but conditional basic income support that socially values care, ecological and community work;
- Universal Basic Services, north and south, where the state regulates, plans, funds and monitors a plurality of diverse providers to provide collective services to meet needs (transport, health, libraries, housing, local ecologies, education, social services);
- Enabling institutions to support capacity and enhance citizens and resident’s navigational agency (education, community development, active labour market programmes, and above all local government and multi-actor local governance);
- Taxation – new and alternative forms of revenue compatible with an ecosocial future, in particular individualised systems focusing on taxation of environmental damages and inequalities;
- Care and well-being – shifting from the central logic of growth/GDP by reporting an all-island care and well-being indicator, an agreed mechanism to monitor progress towards an eco-social settlement.
The conclusion points to the need for inclusive democratic politics of transformation, and argues that especially in ‘the urgency of now’ we must prioritise the time for deep listening and for utilising all knowledges that can build this sustainable future.
Speaker details:
Professor Mary Murphy, Maynooth University
Professor of Irish Politics and Society in the Department of Sociology, Maynooth University, Mary Murphy has research interests in ecosocial welfare, gender, care and social security, globalisation and welfare states, and power and civil society. She co-edited The Irish Welfare state in the 21st Century Challenges and Changes (Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2016), Policy Analysis in Ireland (Bristol Policy Press 2021) and was sole author of Creating an Ecosocial Future (Policy Press, May 2023).
Prior to her academic employment she worked with national non-government organisations to advance antipoverty goals in national policy processes. As a pracademic she continues to be an active advocate for social justice and gender equality. She was appointed to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (2013-217) and is currently a member of the Council of State in Ireland and is the Chairperson of Oxfam Ireland. She is Ireland’s representative in the EU wide Sustainable Welfare & Eco-Social Policy Network and a member of the UNESCO Policy Laboratory.
Respondents details:
Dr. Larry O'Connell, NESC
Dr Larry O’Connell is the Director of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC). He leads an inter-disciplinary team in Ireland’s NESC. Current work is focused on Housing, in particular, sustainable urban development and compact growth; and, the Modern Methods of Construction in residential development . It is also working on Energy and Ireland’s transition to a fossil-free future. NESC is finalising a special publication to mark its 50th anniversary in 2023, entitled NESC@50: Ireland at a Pivotal Moment. Prior to becoming Director in 2019, Larry worked as senior Economist in NESC on range of policy issues, including climate change, housing and higher education funding. During his earlier career he worked in Teagasc, the higher education sector and in Louis Dreyfus (London). He has a degree in Agriculture Economics, a Master’s in business and a PhD which focused on the internationalisation of Irish businesses.
Chairpersons details:
Ms. Katie Morgan, Fórsa
Katie Morgan is a National Secretary for Fórsa, and Head of Fórsa’s Services & Enterprises Division. Katie is one of the elected Vice Presidents of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and a member of the ICTU Executive.
Launch of a special issue of the Studies quarterly journal:
The NERI Dónal Nevin Lecture will be followed by the launch of a special issue of the Studies quarterly journal. Dr. Dermot Roantree, editor of Studies introduced this issue of the Studies journal. He then introduced Dr. Larry O'Connell, NESC who launched this special issue. The launch took place at the drinks reception from 20:00 - 20:15.'Ireland's Development Model: Has it run its course?' is the title of a special issue of the quarterly jorunal, Studies, published since 1912 by the Irish
Jesuits. This special issue focuses on the challenges a fast-changing global situation poses for a model that has prioritised attracting and embedding foreign investment. Articles examine issues of taxation, Ireland's care model and gendered inequality, economic democracy, the particularities of the connection between wealth generation and social provision in the Irish model, and the enormous challenges posed by climate change. David Begg contributes a lengthy review of Frank Barry's book on industry and policy in independent Ireland.