Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Samuel Beckett Conference and Festival, York, 16-26 June, 2011
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SAMUEL BECKETT: OUT OF THE ARCHIVE=20

*** Conference Registration Now Open ***

The Department of English and Related Literature is pleased to announce
Samuel Beckett: Out of the Archive, a public celebration of the work of =
the
Nobel Prize-winning Irish author to be held at the University of York =
from
16-26 June, 2011. This international festival and landmark conference
features five major public events showcasing the work of Samuel Beckett =
and
of contemporary artists influenced by this seminal writer.

Among other events, there will be readings from works-in-progress by J. =
M.
Coetzee (Nobel Prize, 2003) and John Banville (Booker Prize, 2005),
performances of Beckett's work by Conor Lovett from the Gare St Lazare
Players Ireland, and an exhibition of iconic photographs of Beckett in =
Paris
and London taken by John Minihan. All these events are free and open to =
all;
tickets are available through the University of York website:
http://www.york.ac.uk/tickets =20

In addition, a lunchtime concert at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall will
celebrate Beckett=92s impact on contemporary music. This event, curated =
by
pianist Catherine Laws from the University of York, will include a world =
and
European premiere of two new compositions and performances by
internationally-renowned players: Damien Harron, John Tilbury, and Jos
Zwaanenburg. Tickets for =91Beckett in Music=92, cost =A310 or just =A35 =
for
students; they can be booked at:
http://www.york.ac.uk/concerts/programme/beckettinmusic/=20

The conference portion of the event (23-26 June) has attracted academics
from thirty countries, including many of the most influential figures in =
the
world of modernist studies. Highlights include keynote addresses by =
Linda
Ben-Zvi (Tel Aviv University), Lois Overbeck (Emory University), and
Jean-Michel Rabat=E9 (University of Pennsylvania). Out of the Archive =
thus
highlights Beckett=92s stature through a pluralist embrace of artists,
creative writers, theatre practitioners, musicians, and working =
scholars; it
will bring their specialist expertise on Beckett into dialogue with a =
wider
public through multiple media. To register, please visit the =
conference=92s
online store:=20
http://tinyurl.com/6l3mboy

NB: A very limited number of extra speaking slots have been made =
available
to meet the exceptional demand for places at the conference. Please =
contact
beckett.outofthearchive[at]gmail.com
=20
More information about all of these events can be found at
www.outofthearchive.com=20


Conference Organizers:=20
Bryan Radley and Lawrence Rainey (University of York)
Peter Fifield (St John=92s College, Oxford)

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Book Review,
About Faces - Physiognomy in Nineteenth-Century Britain
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This book will interest a number of IR-D members. It includes all the =
usual
material - Perry Curtis, and so on - but given the physiognomistic =
spin...


Book Review
SOURCE
http://www.historytoday.com/blog/books-blog/emelyne-godfrey/about-faces-p=
hys
iognomy-nineteenth-century-britain

Pasted in below...

See also
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t0qy7

The study of facial features and assumptions about their relationship to
character informs the judgements we make about people to this day. For
centuries, in literature, in art, in images and cartoons the =
descriptions of
the way people look has served to indicate how they might behave and =
there
is even a kind of science - physiognomy - dedicated to cataloguing the
complex relationship between the two.

Laurie Taylor discusses the impact on culture of this strange science of
instinct and prejudice with the literature scholar John Mullan and =
Sharrona
Pearl author of About Faces; Physiognomy in Nineteenth-Century Britain.

http://www.historytoday.com/blog/books-blog/emelyne-godfrey/about-faces-p=
hys
iognomy-nineteenth-century-britain

Emelyne Godfrey reviews a title by Sharrona Pearl.

About Faces
Physiognomy in Nineteenth-Century Britain
Sharrona Pearl
Harvard University Press
302pp =A336.95
ISBN 978 0674036048

When Captain Robert FitzRoy was looking for a naturalist to accompany =
him on
his voyage on the Beagle, he almost turned down Charles Darwin. For =
FitzRoy,
Darwin=92s nose was too short, which suggested that this candidate =
lacked the
stamina for the lengthy journey. Thankfully, the captain laid aside his
preconceptions, steering history in a different direction. FitzRoy was a
pupil of the =91science=92 of physiognomy, which maintained that =
physical
appearance was a clue to character. Believed to have originated in
antiquity, it was promoted in the 18th century by a Swiss pastor, Johann
Caspar Lavater. As less expensive editions of his work became more =
widely
available in the 19th century, physiognomy really took off. Pearl=92s =
book is
a thematically organised tour of Victorian mindsets. We walk down =
streets,
peep into parlours and pantries and glance behind the stage curtain.
Analysing photographs of asylum inmates, we learn how body language and
clothing were presented to denote states of mind and how patients were
motivated into recovery by judging and improving on their own =
physiognomies.
A confident guide, Pearl achieves her objective, namely to reveal just =
how
prevalent physiognomy was in Victorian culture and in everyday life. As =
she
argues, the growth of cities promoted a desire to understand human
character. In an urban environment where encounters were fleeting, it =
became
essential for the everyman to make speedy judgements about the moral
integrity of strangers. If physiognomy offered a way of reading =
character,
it soon became a method of categorising groups and races. This is where =
the
journey took a more sinister turn. In Victorian England, the paranoid,
physiognomic eye was especially trained on Irish Catholics and Jewish
immigrants, whose growing influence prompted the creation of visual =
markers
by which to identify and control these =91others=92. (Here, the spectre =
of the
Third Reich may never be far from a modern day reader=92s mind.) =
Historians
have already commented on the treatment of these two groups in the =
Victorian
era but what Pearl=92s book does is analyse the process by which =
prejudice was
transformed into a =91science=92 and grafted onto a system of culturally
established, and therefore readily digestible, physiognomic signs. At =
the
same time, she only briefly suggests that physiognomy could also =
=91unearth
similarities=92 between cultures. This is reminiscent of the way in =
which
physiognomic likenesses were employed as a means of promoting mutual
sympathy between Britain and Japan during this time and especially after =
the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5. While Pearl allows readers to come to =
their
own conclusions about the utility of modern manifestations of =
physiognomy,
her book does throw heavy hints that the beauty of such highly =
subjective
theories is often in the eye of the beholder.

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Conference, The Diasporic Family in Cinema, 21 May 2011, London
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From: Patrick O'Sullivan [mailto:P.OSullivan[at]bradford.ac.uk]=20

The Diasporic Family in Cinema
21 May 2011
Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, University of London,
Russell Square, London
and Cin=E9 Lumi=E8re, 17 Queensberry Place, London

The conference examines the representation of the diasporic family in
contemporary European cinema, Hollywood and Bollywood. It provides a
platform for dialogue with filmmakers and producers and aims to explore =
how
they negotiate between their artistic ambitions, the demands of the =
public
funding bodies and the market in their construction of diasporic family =
life
on screen.

In conjunction with the conference, there will be a film screening =
of=A0When
We Leave=A0(Die Fremde, dir. Feo Aladag, Germany 2010) at the Cin=E9 =
Lumi=E9re,
starting at 6pm, followed by a Q&A session with the director.
Confirmed speakers:=A0Professor Stella Bruzzi, University of Warwick
(Keynote);=A0Dr Feo Aladag, independent filmmaker (When We Leave);=A0Dr =
Daniela
Berghahn, Royal Holloway, University of London,=A0Professor Rachel =
Dwyer,
SOAS, University of London;=A0Gareth Jones, Scenario Films (Desire) and
BABYLON;=A0Dr Sarita Malik, Brunel University;=A0Dr Claudia Sternberg,
University of Leeds;=A0Sandhya Suri, independent filmmaker (I for =
India);
Professor Carrie Tarr, Kingston University;=A0Leslee Udwin, Assassin =
Films,
producer of=A0East is East=A0and=A0West is West=A0

Please visit the project website for further details and an up-to-date
conference programme:

http://www.farflungfamilies.net/events/item/the_diasporic_family_in_cinem=
a

Advance conference registration by 20 May 2011 is required of all =
attendees.
Please book online at:=A0http://www.soas.ac.uk/centresoffice/events/

or contact the Centres & Programmes Office, SOAS =
on=A0events[at]soas.ac.uk=A0or Tel
+44 (0)20 7898 4892.

Tickets for the film screening are available from the Cin=E9 Lumi=E8re =
Box
Office: Tel =A0+44 (0)20 7073 1350 =
or=A0www.institut-francais.org.uk/book

The conference is co-hosted by the Department of Media Arts, Royal =
Holloway,
the Centre for Media and Film Studies, SOAS, and the Centre for =
Migration
and Diaspora Studies, SOAS, in association with the Screen Studies =
Group,
University of London, the Goethe Institute and the Cin=E9 Lumi=E8re. It =
is
supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.=A0
=A0

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Book Review,
Margaret Preston Stephanie Rains _Commodity Culture and Social
Class in Dublin 1850-1916_
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Stephanie Rains. Commodity Culture and Social Class in Dublin =
1850-1916.
Dublin Irish Academic Press, 2010. 226 pp. $74.95 (cloth), ISBN
978-0-7165-3069-5.

Reviewed by Margaret Preston (Augustana College Department of History)
Published on H-Albion (March, 2011)
Commissioned by Nicholas M. Wolf

In the summer of 2010, David Dickson published an article in =
_=C9ire-Ireland_
on the state of the historiography of Dublin. While Dickson was positive
about the growing wealth of scholarship on Ireland's capital city, he
nevertheless suggested that it has two clear weaknesses: first, Four =
Courts
Press remains the dominant publisher of Dublin history and second, most
scholars have focused on "Dublin's history in isolation and therefore =
...
suggest that its development was exceptional."[1] While Stephanie =
Rains's
new volume _Commodity Culture and Social Class in Dublin 1850-1916_ =
reflects
some elements of the second of Dickson's criticisms, it is nevertheless =
an
important addition to our understanding of the history of the city's
middle-class population--a population that sought to control Dublin's
evolving commercial culture in order to express their increasing social,
political, and economic power.

Each of Rains's chapters (most divided into single decades) begins with =
an
interesting discussion of the changes to the geography of Dublin's =
shopping
landscape. The first chapter opens with the mid-century development of =
the
"monster" stores that were increasing in number throughout Dublin's city
center. Those who supported their growth asserted that the development =
of
large stores was the free market at work, while critics volleyed back =
that
often such stores' goods were of poor quality and not Irish-made. =
Coloring
these debates, suggests Rains, was both Britain's growing industrial
complex, which was spreading into Ireland as part of its continuous push =
for
new markets, and the government's role in the economy as related to the
Famine. What Rains shows here is how, in relation to its commodities =
market,
mid-century Ireland was already wrestling with its place in the union as
well as a political authority that was strongly committed to the ideals =
of
free trade. What we learn is that by the early twentieth century, Irish
stores and what they sold (and its provenance) had a part to play in the
national debate on Home Rule.

Subsequent chapters elaborate further on these themes. Each chapter, for
example, provides an interesting discussion of Dublin's evolving =
inner-city
transportation system, showing how, by century's end, Dublin's electric =
tram
system made it "one of the best public transport services in the world" =
(p.
129). Nevertheless, what Rains also shows is that the barons of Dublin's
transport system were more interested in serving Dublin's growing middle
class than making public transportation an affordable option for the =
city's
workers, and, up until the last decades of the century, the tram system =
was
almost exclusively moving Dublin's wealthier citizens. Importantly, we =
learn
that such men as James Fitzgerald Lombard and his son-in-law, William =
Martin
Murphy, who were powerful figures in Irish department stores, also came =
to
control Dublin's transport network through their creation of Dublin =
United
Tramways Company. The Tramways Company came to have a "near monopoly on =
the
major routes in the city centre" and its lines, by 1885, were carrying =
over
eighteen million passengers per year (p. 88). Here, Rains convincingly
argues that, by the turn of the century, a very small coterie of people =
had
come to control Dublin's commodities and transport scenes and were, as a
result, important players in the city's politics.

Turning to the Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1853, Rains details how
organizers sought to place Ireland among the world's exhibitioners. It =
is
through these events that Rains shows how the men who planned them =
wrestled
with imitating other international exhibitions while at the same time
creating something thought to be considered uniquely Irish. In addition, =
as
the century wore on, these exhibitions became increasingly politicized, =
with
unionists seeking to maintain a royal imprimatur while nationalists =
worked
to remove it. As the popularity and profitability of such events =
diminished
over time, they were replaced with large charitable bazaars. Here, Rains
also shows how the middle-class women who volunteered at these events, =
while
not invited to the planning table, could respectably have a public role =
at
them. Yet the women who volunteered at a bazaar's various booths and =
eating
establishments were clearly "playing at" the jobs of their working-class
sisters, while experiencing few of the actual hardships. Rains reveals =
that
such volunteer opportunities offered middle-class women the chance to =
step
out of their traditionally limited social role, "casting off many of the
usual restrictions of social norms and conventions" (p. 163).

As we watch the middle classes gain social power as expressed through =
the
purchase of and control over local commodities, Rains also offers a look =
at
those who worked in the stores. As the shop clerk position shifts from =
male
to female dominated, a gendered response on the part of middle-class
clientele evolved. Thus, in the mid-century, the middle class =
characterized
the male shop worker as an overly masculine, dangerous, Fenian fighter,
while, by century's end, as females came to dominate the role, the male
clerk's masculinity was so scrutinized that salesmen sought to be =
"almost
excessively manly in their physical appearance" (p. 66). With regard to
female clerks, the middle class was increasingly concerned that these =
young
women were vulnerable to the whims of store owners as well as the
enticements of the darker side of the big city. In addition, we learn =
that,
like nineteenth-century nurses, until century's end department stores =
housed
workers. While this remains an area open for further discussion, Rains
offers a glimpse into how this allowed the stores to control workers' =
lives
both on and off the job. Thus, for example, on-site housing limited an
employee's ability to marry, as stores sought to house an unmarried
workforce. So too conditions in which workers lived, while certainly
Spartan, could be dangerous, as when in 1902 the Todd, Burns & Co. fire
killed three female employees.

Throughout the century, sales clerks fought to improve working =
conditions,
and while Rains shows that a "labour aristocracy" between large and =
small
store sales clerks developed, this did not mean a lack of collaboration =
or
sympathy between workers as together they pursued redress of grievances.
Over time, workers sought to limit weekday hours worked and gain earlier
closing on Saturday--a benefit that ironically had the greatest impact =
on
the city's working class whose only chance to shop was usually Saturday
evening. However, not until they moved beyond the gentleman's club model =
to
the Irish Drapers Assistants' Association, a proto-trade union, did they
finally have a modicum of success.

_Commodity Culture and Social Class in Dublin_ adds to our understanding =
of
the role of Dublin's middle classes and how they sought to express their
increasing social power through control of the city's commodities scene.
However, as Dickson's criticism identifies, Rains maintains her focus =
almost
exclusively on Dublin. While Rains does state that this is her plan, we
nevertheless learn of Dublin in near isolation as Rains offers only a
cursory glimpse of how the commodity culture of other large metropolitan
areas developed. Yet, ironically, Rains fails to utilize the more =
recently
published sources on Ireland and on Dublin specifically. One of the more
egregious examples of this may be seen in her discussion of how =
vulnerable
young women from the country came to Dublin to work in the shops, but =
might
also have been lured into prostitution. Arguing that there is very =
little
evidence that the middle classes were concerned about the moral =
salvation of
the shop girl, Rains cites Judith R. Walkowitz's _City of Dreadful =
Delight:
Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London_ (1992). Yet Maria
Luddy's _Prostitution and Irish Society 1800-1940_, published in 2007, =
would
have been the better choice for this discussion, and Luddy seems to
contradict Rains's argument that the middle classes failed to focus on =
the
moral health of local shop girls. Additionally, in her introduction, =
Rains
makes a sweeping generalization that little has been written on =
Ireland's
urban middle class and that this book will help fill the gap. While this
book certainly does add to our understanding of Dublin's middle class,
absent from Rains's bibliography and endnotes are more recently =
published
works that offer a discussion of the Irish urban middle classes (for
example, Margaret =D3 h=D3gartaigh's _Kathleen Lynn: Irishwoman, =
Patriot,
Doctor_ [2006], Oonagh Walsh's _Anglican Women in Dublin: Philanthropy,
Politics and Education in the Early Twentieth Century_ [2005], Margaret
Preston's _Charitable Words: Women, Philanthropy and the Language of =
Charity
in Nineteenth Century Dublin_ [2004], Carmel Quinlan's _Genteel
Revolutionaries: Anna and Thomas Haslam and the Irish Women's Movement_
[2002], Maria Luddy's _Women and Philanthropy in Nineteenth Century =
Ireland_
[1995], and Maria Luddy and Mary Cullen's _Women, Power and =
Consciousness in
19th Century Ireland_ [1995]). Finally, and most surprising, while Rains
rightly relies on Mary Daly's timeless _Dublin, the Deposed Capital: A
Social and Economic History 1860-1914_ (1985), there is no suggestion =
that
she ever utilized _Dublin Slums 1800-1925 _(1983), the award-winning =
book by
her Maynooth colleague Jacinta Prunty.

Rains's _Commodity Culture and Social Class in Dublin_ is a well-written =
and
interesting read that is an important addition to our understanding of
Dublin's evolving middle-class population. It follows Dublin's middle
classes out to the city's expanding suburbs and tracks how they =
expressed
their desire for social power through commodities offered in Dublin =
stores,
exhibitions, and bazaars. Rains reveals that, by the turn of the =
century,
Dublin's middle classes were wrestling with national identity and shows =
how
one's political position could be expressed through the power of the
pocketbook. Finally, this book adds to our understanding of the =
increasing
public place for both working- and middle-class women, as jobs for =
females
in stores increased in number while their female patrons used shopping =
as
another, albeit limited, opportunity for public expression of economic
power.

Note

[1]. David Dickson, "The State of Dublin's History," _Eire-Ireland_ 45, =
nos.
1-2 (Spring-Summer 2010): 207.


Citation: Margaret Preston. Review of Stephanie Rains, _Commodity =
Culture
and Social Class in Dublin 1850-1916_. H-Albion, H-Net Reviews. March, =
2011.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=3D31930

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License.

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Book Notice, Hidden History of the Irish of New Jersey
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Hidden History of the Irish of New Jersey
by Thomas Fox

The History Press, 2011 - History - 128 pages

The Irish have a long and proud history in America, and New Jersey is no
exception. Beginning with the first Irish immigrants who settled in every
corner of the state, this vital ethnic community has left an indelible mark
on all facets of life in the Garden State. New Jersey's Irish natives
expressed their own discontent over British oppression by battling alongside
colonists in the American Revolution. Brave Fenians fought to preserve their
new home in the Civil War. New Jersey's Irish also have become professional
athletes, United States Representatives, religious leaders, spies and
business trailblazers. Author and Irish heritage researcher Tom Fox relays
these and other stories that demonstrate the importance of Ireland to the
development of New Jersey and the United States.

https://historypress.net/indexsecure.php?prodid=9781609490300

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Book Review,
Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre _Cosmopolitan Nationalism in the
Victorian Empire: Ireland, India and the Politics of Alfred Webb_
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Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre. Cosmopolitan Nationalism in the Victorian =
Empire:
Ireland, India and the Politics of Alfred Webb. Houndmills, =
Basingstoke,
Hampshire Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. xiii + 229 pp. $74.95 (cloth), =
ISBN
978-0-230-22085-0.

Reviewed by Timothy McMahon
Published on H-Albion (March, 2011)
Commissioned by Nicholas M. Wolf

Untangling Ireland's Imperial Webb

In _Cosmopolitan Nationalism in the Victorian Empire: Ireland, India, =
and
the Politics of Alfred Webb_, Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre engages several
historiographies at once--the nature of nationalism, the internal =
dynamics
of the Home Rule movement, the importance of personal connections to
achieving political ends, the interrelationships of constituent parts of =
the
British Empire, and the place of Ireland in the wider world. While the
final two of these may strike some as redundant, they are, in fact, =
distinct
though related issues. The empire was, as Regan-Lefebvre demonstrates, =
one
conduit through which at least some Irish men and women understood their
place in the world and sought to influence world developments, but it =
was
not the only one such conduit.

The author builds her study around a single person's career--that of =
Alfred
Webb (1834-1908), long known as an important, if eccentric, member of =
the
Irish Home Rule movement. A Dublin Quaker and printer, Webb came from a
family of committed social activists--his parents, R. D. and Hannah, =
were
acquaintances of Daniel O'Connell as well as of the American =
abolitionists
William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass. R. D., in particular, =
helped
to make his son aware of reformist currents through opposition not only =
to
slavery and discrimination, but also to various policies of the United
Kingdom, including the expansion of the opium trade in China.

The younger Webb also experienced empire first-hand when, as a teen, his
family sent him to Australia to improve his health. On his return trip
home, he worked as a ship hand. As an adult, he picked up the family
mantle, succeeding to his father's printing business and maintaining his =
own
affective networks and interests that addressed issues such as women's
rights and Home Rule. During his days as a member of parliament, he =
moved
from Dublin to London and his contacts included Irish nationalist
politicians, British Liberals, and figures from throughout the empire,
especially South Asian elites, often meeting them through his membership =
in
the National Liberal Club. At the apex of his political career, he =
served
for a year as president of the Indian National Congress, traveling to =
the
annual convention held at Madras in December 1894.

As part of the Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies series, the =
book
contributes to several ongoing scholarly discussions. Like Leela =
Gandhi,
Regan-Lefebvre is interested in the part played by cross-cultural
relationships in shaping nationalist understanding.[1] Ultimately she =
sees
Webb as a civic nationalist, that is, one whose concept of national
belonging was based on adherence to political ideas rather than on blood =
or
ethnicity. As such, in spite of Webb's interest in the Gaelic revival,
Regan-Lefebvre contends that Webb's nationalism ran counter to the =
impulses
of those like D. P. Moran whose work profoundly influenced early
twentieth-century Ireland. Such a conclusion, offered all too briefly in =
her
summary chapter, calls for greater scrutiny. The Moranite strain of
Irish-Irelandism was merely one of many in play during Webb's later =
years,
and Webb's very interest in Gaelicism--as well as his public criticism =
of
elements within that movement--testify to the diversity of the early =
revival
era. Regan-Lefebvre devotes attention more profitably to the coming
together of Irish and South Asian activists in late Victorian London;
therefore, her study of Webb fits well within the burgeoning literature =
on
colonial encounters at the imperial center that scholars such as =
Antoinette
Burton have done much to promote.[2] Further, those interested in Home =
Rule
will find material on the practical challenges behind the Irish party's
formation and restructuring that will augment the recent works of Alvin
Jackson and Patrick Maume, as well as the more classic studies of Conor
Cruise O'Brien and F. S. L. Lyons.[3] Because Webb and his close friend =
J.
F. X. O'Brien were integral but often behind-the-scenes figures in =
keeping
the party (or its factions) functioning, Regan-Lefebvre's attention to =
their
efforts is most welcome.

While the book roughly follows the chronological arc of Webb's life, it =
is
organized thematically, with Regan-Lefebvre cleverly addressing issues =
when
they took precedence for her subject. Of course, such authorial license =
is
necessarily arbitrary: few of us actually focus only on a single element =
of
our lives or worldviews at any given time. Still, this analytical =
choice
allows readers or instructors to hone in on those chapters of the book
relevant to their work, whether it would be Victorian social activism, =
the
Home Rule cause from the time of Isaac Butt to the divided post-Parnell =
era,
or the cross-pollination of nationalist ideas in the imperial =
metropolis.

Sensitive and prone to public displays of emotion, Webb was ripe for =
parody
and in the end for sharp handling by the grasping Timothy Healy, whose
attention drove him to resign from active politics after his return from
India. Little wonder that Webb was given to intermittent bouts of
depression (or perhaps exhaustion), during which he would temporarily
withdraw from his various causes only to return when energy and =
invitation
bestirred him to action. As _Cosmopolitan Nationalism_ makes abundantly
clear, however, such retreats were both strategic and emotionally =
necessary,
and allowed Webb to remain a determined activist in domestic and =
imperial
affairs to the end of his days.

Notes

[1]. Leela Gandhi, _Affective Communities: Anticolonial Thought,
Fin-de-Si=E8cle Radicalism, and the Politics of Friendship_ (Durham: =
Duke
University Press, 2006).

[2]. In particular, see Antoinette Burton, _At the Heart of the Empire:
Indians and the Colonial Encounter in Late-Victorian Britain_ (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1998).

[3]. Titles on Home Rule are voluminous. These four represent good
introductions to the party and movement: Alvin Jackson, Home _Rule: An =
Irish
History, 1800-2000_ (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003); Patrick
Maume, _The Long Gestation: Irish Nationalist Life, 1891-1918_ (Dublin: =
Gill
and Macmillan, 1999); Conor Cruise O'Brien, _Parnell and His Party, =
1880-90_
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957); and F. S. L. Lyons, _The Irish
Parliamentary Party, 1890-1910_ (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1975, c.
1951). Numerous biographies of figures such as Charles Stewart Parnell, =
John
Dillon, Isaac Butt, and Timothy Healy are also useful for comparison. =
See
especially F. S. L. Lyons, _Charles Stewart Parnell_ (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1977), _John Dillon: A Biography_ (Chicago: University =
of
Chicago Press, 1968); Terence De Vere White, _The Road of Excess_ =
(Dublin:
Browne and Nolan, Ltd., 1946); and Frank Callanan, _T. M. Healy_ (Cork: =
Cork
University Press, 1996).

Citation: Timothy McMahon. Review of Regan-Lefebvre, Jennifer, =
_Cosmopolitan
Nationalism in the Victorian Empire: Ireland, India and the Politics of
Alfred Webb_. H-Albion, H-Net Reviews. March, 2011.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=3D31587

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License.

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Article,
Making myth: The image of 'Big Jim' Larkin in Plunkett's Strumpet
City
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Making myth: The image of 'Big Jim' Larkin in Plunkett's Strumpet City

Lawrence Wilde
Nottingham Trent University, lawrence.wilde[at]ntu.ac.uk

Abstract

James Larkin is a revered figure in Irish history, remarkably so in view of
his associations with revolutionary syndicalism and communism. Among the
contributions to the creation of the myth of 'Big Jim', James Plunkett's
novel Strumpet City takes pride of place. The book's treatment of Larkin is
examined here as an outstanding example of Gramsci's call for the emergence
of a popular culture that challenges the hegemony of the ruling classes. By
getting into the desperate lives of the Dublin poor in the bitter industrial
struggles prior to the First World War, Plunkett affirms the Gramscian idea
of developing a new way of conceiving the world by presenting Larkin as the
mythical embodiment of social justice and solidarity. Although the events
are now in the distant past, images developed with the great affective power
of this novel may jolt modern readers to a greater awareness of present-day
global struggles.

Catholic Antonio Gramsci lockout solidarity Georges Sorel

Journal of European Studies February 3, 2011 vol. 41 no. 1 63-75

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Article, Civil Autonomy and Military Power in Early Modern Ireland
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Civil Autonomy and Military Power in Early Modern Ireland
Author: =D3 Siochr=FA, Miche=E1l=20

Source: Journal of Early Modern History, Volume 15, Numbers 1-2, 2011 , =
pp.
31-57(27)
Publisher: BRILL

Abstract:
The transformation of Irish towns in the early modern period (from =
bastions
of English loyalism, to centers of Catholic resistance, to stridently
Protestant colonial outposts) has received relatively little attention =
from
historians. Instead, scholars have focused on the major land transfers =
of
the seventeenth century, but the change in urban settlement patterns =
proved
even more dramatic and was closely related to the positioning of civic
communities in relation to the military struggles of the 1640s and =
1650s.
The central argument is that the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland marked =
a
crucial and irrevocable transformation in both the possibilities of =
civic
militarism and the nature of urban society and politics more generally. =
It
demonstrates that during the 1640s, the citizens of Ireland's major
provincial cities participated in the troubles through strategic =
neutralism
and the retention (or careful negotiation) of military force, acting =
with
the fortunes of the citizenry in mind. This approach continued a =
tradition
of relative civic autonomy, which was probably more embedded and =
accentuated
in Ireland than either Scotland or England.

Keywords: Urban; military; history; Ireland; seventeenth century; civic
communities; Cromwell; Ormond

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Article,
'Building a Platform for Our Voices to be Heard': Migrant Women's
Networks as Locations of Transformation in the Republic of Ireland
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'Building a Platform for Our Voices to be Heard': Migrant Women's Networks
as Locations of Transformation in the Republic of Ireland

Authors: De Tona, Carla; Lentin, Ronit
Source: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Volume 37, Number 3, March
2011 , pp. 485-502(18)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:
Several migrant women's organisations have been set up in Ireland over the
last decade. This article surveys three such groups: NOUR (Al Huda Women's
Group), a Dublin independent Muslim women's group; WOMB (Women of
Multi-Culture Balbriggan), a suburban multi-ethnic women's network; and
AkiDwA, the African and Migrant Women's Network. In the second part of the
article we focus in more depth on the evolution of the first two-NOUR and
WOMB-both very different associations. Using the concept of network and
focusing on the networking practices of these groups, we argue that migrant
women's networks attest not only to women's agency and resourcefulness in
transforming their lives but also to the nature of contemporary Irish
society. We also suggest that, while the resilience and flexibility of
networking embody a culture of global gendered resistance, networking also
bespeaks the contradictions that migrant women face in Ireland, showing the
everyday experiences of belonging and living in the margins and in-between
social locations.

Keywords: Migration and Gender; Migrant Women; Networks; Integration;
Ireland

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Sean Campbell
Subject: 'Irish Blood,
English Heart': Second-Generation Irish Musicians in England
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NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT=20

Sean Campbell
'Irish Blood, English Heart': Second-Generation Irish Musicians in =
England
Cork University Press=20
March 2011
ISBN: 9781859184615

http://corkuniversitypress.com/=20

Second-generation Irish musicians have played a vital role in the =
history of popular music in England. This book explores the role of =
Irish ethnicity in the lives and work of these musicians, focusing on =
three high-profile projects: Kevin Rowland and Dexys Midnight Runners, =
Shane MacGowan and The Pogues, and Morrissey/Marr and The Smiths. The =
book locates these musicians in a hyphenated =91Irish-Englishness=92 =
marked by =91in-betweenness=92 and explores the different ways that they =
engaged with this in-betweenness through their creative work and their =
engagements with audiences, the media and the music industry. The book =
draws on extensive archival research of print and audio-visual media as =
well as original interviews with the key figures, including Shane =
MacGowan, Johnny Marr, Kevin Rowland and C=E1it O=92Riordan. Combining =
its assiduous research with fresh critical insights, the book offers new =
analyses of the musicians, as well as previously undocumented accounts =
of their lives and work. The book highlights the diversity and =
complexity of second-generation Irish identities and experience and =
details the diverse ways in which this generation has shaped popular =
music in England. Accessible and original, =91Irish Blood, English =
Heart=92 will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of =
popular music, media/cultural studies, and ethnic/migration studies. It =
will also appeal to a wider audience of those interested in the =
musicians with whom it deals.

'This is not just a subtle and sophisticated scholarly contribution to =
popular music and Irish studies. It is also a fine and exciting account =
of how music can be used to make sense of the complexity, anxiety and =
exhilaration of contemporary cultural identities'. --Simon Frith, Tovey =
Professor of Music, University of Edinburgh

'The role of the second-generation Irish in shaping British pop has, =
until now, been all but overlooked. Sean Campbell looks deeply and =
thought-provokingly at the second-generation Irish 'in-betweenness' of =
Kevin Rowland, Shane MacGowan and, perhaps most surprisingly, Morrissey =
and Johnny Marr of The Smiths, that seemingly most English of pop =
groups. He sheds new light on their songs and on the strategies of =
protest, resistance and assimilation articulated therein. 'Irish Blood, =
English Heart' is a constantly intriguing and often provocative book =
about the complex process - and peculiar freedom - of not wholly =
belonging to one culture or the other'. --Sean O'Hagan, The Observer

'This is a highly valuable book on the Irish diaspora and the politics =
of post-imperial popular culture in the UK. It reveals how Irish-English =
musicians struggled and succeeded in making the nation's multi-ethnic =
history and culture more audible and visible in a particularly =
inhospitable climate for the Irish. The book makes a significant =
contribution to the cultural history of the 1970s and 1980s, and =
contains lessons for the present in which England and the United Kingdom =
continue to fashion other "enemies within"'. --Nabeel Zuberi, author of =
Sounds English

The book will be launched by Niall Stokes of Hot Press at the Workman's =
Club, 10 Wellington Quay, Dublin on Tuesday 29 March at 6.30pm.=20=

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Book Review,
John R. Ch=?iso-8859-1?Q?=E1vez_?= _Beyond Nations: Evolving
Homelands in the North Atlantic World, 1400-2000_
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John R. Ch=E1vez. Beyond Nations: Evolving Homelands in the North =
Atlantic
World, 1400-2000. New York Cambridge University Press, 2009. xv + 292 =
pp.
$85.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-521-51667-9; $24.99 (paper), ISBN
978-0-521-73633-6.

Reviewed by Catherine Styer (University of Pennsylvania)
Published on H-Albion (March, 2011)
Commissioned by Thomas Hajkowski

Six Centuries of Imperialism and Confederation

This ambitious book seeks to do no less than track the histories of the
"homelands and communities that made the North Atlantic World coherent
historically" from their "sociopolitical positions prior to transoceanic
contact to their current standing" in the modern world order (pp. xiii,
xiv). In doing so, the author states that he will "de-emphasize" the =
usual
subjects of Atlantic histories--the main European players and the United
States--to focus on the people and places of the Atlantic's "ethnic =
regions"
on the borders of these central states and on the "edges of the =
mainstream"
of historical scholarship (p. xiv). Furthermore, unusually for a project
focusing on comparative political, cultural, and institutional =
development,
John R. Ch=E1vez presents his analysis in a narrative format and hopes =
to
"clarify and elaborate colonial theory ... setting the stage =
geographically
and then following the processes and events chronologically" (p. xv).

Ch=E1vez's geographical scope is wide. He describes the evolution of =
peoples
and places as diverse as the Micmacs of a land successively termed
Megumaage, Acadia, and Nova Scotia; the Irish; the people of the Basque
region; the Tejanos of South West Texas; and the various inhabitants of
Sierra Leone. Some of these people and places make brief appearances to
illustrate larger phenomenon; for instance, a four-page trip to Sierra =
Leone
is used to depict "renewed" colonialism in Africa at the end of the
eighteenth century (p. 120). Others, such as Ireland and the Basque =
region,
are tracked throughout the book. Ch=E1vez's chronological span is also =
long.
Beginning in the fifteenth century, he works his way around the Atlantic =
and
through time to the formation of the European Union (EU) and the
contemporary struggles of the United States with what the author terms
"resurgent ethnic homelands."

In describing the evolution of these "homelands," Ch=E1vez shapes his
narrative into several analytical periods. _Beyond Nations_ opens with a
survey of the wide variety of political and social institutions to be =
found
around the Atlantic basin in 1400 before tracking what the author =
describes
as the "first great wave" of transatlantic empire as the Spanish, Dutch,
French, and English crossed into the Caribbean and the Americas (p. =
246).
His focus in these chapters is not solely on European imperialism, =
however.
Ch=E1vez also demonstrates the ways in which European migration both =
limited
and encouraged imperial tendencies among different native groups in the
Americas themselves. Moving into the eighteenth century, Ch=E1vez =
considers
the manner in which new empires arose between 1750 and 1880 modeled on
former empires, a process he terms "internal colonialism" (p. 246). For
instance, he sees the United States as the heir to English imperialism =
as
settlers moved West. The years between 1880 and 1945 then witnessed,
according to Ch=E1vez, the "second great wave of overseas empire and =
formal
colonialism" (p. 246). Finally, Ch=E1vez argues that World War II
delegitimized ideas of formal empire, although he maintains that the =
Cold
War period nonetheless saw persistent imperial tendencies from both the
United States and the Soviet Union.

While he focuses much of his work on the evolution of homelands through =
the
rise and fall of successive empires loosely defined as both formal and
informal, Ch=E1vez is also interested in how these regions, nations, =
states,
and homelands have sought to work together in a voluntary and =
cooperative
fashion. He terms such actions "federation" and "confederation." =
Ch=E1vez
finds examples of federation and confederation throughout the centuries =
he
covers, moving from the Iroquois League to the United Nations, and from =
the
Economic Community of Western African States to the EU--the EU being the
institution he deems the most successful among these.

There is much to admire in Ch=E1vez's work. The sheer breadth of =
scholarship
is impressive: he writes cogently on a wide variety of people and =
places,
moving easily between discussions of Algonquian homeland myths, the
nineteenth-century struggles over Texas, the intricacies of Irish =
politics,
and the creation of the EU. His attempt to remove the main European and
American players from center stage is also refreshing. Ch=E1vez offers a =
new
view of the Atlantic world, one of many peoples struggling to define =
their
home and identity within regions, nation-states, and empires that =
changed
considerably over time. Instead of writing a historical narrative that
describes and explains the development of nation-states, Ch=E1vez offers =
a
narrative that tracks the fortunes of imperialism and federation as =
forces
which have shaped the Atlantic world.

Scholarship of this scope is, however, difficult to contain, and =
Ch=E1vez does
not entirely escape many of the associated problems. The central =
characters
in his book, if they may be so termed, are the forces of imperialism and
confederation. As a result, both individuals and causation are often =
lost.
Although he sometimes defines "homelands" or "ethnic regions" as places =
to
which peoples have emotional ties, such ties are asserted rather than
examined, and the reader is often left wondering where actual people fit
into this story. Only briefly, at the start and finish of the book, does =
the
messiness of humanity impinge on this history of impersonal forces.
Similarly, causation is also sometimes lacking. Ch=E1vez verges on =
producing a
modern history of progress, one in which the self-evident virtues of
confederation/federation are inexorably revealed. The book is full of =
such
statements as "the utility of federalism gradually became more evident =
as
the modern era unfolded down to our time," but how, and to whom, and =
whether
there was disagreement on this point is unclear from his narrative (p. =
11).

Ch=E1vez's main focus on imperialism and confederation/federation also =
makes
it difficult for him to find the boundaries of his subject. Although he =
aims
to write a history of the North Atlantic world, there is nothing about
imperialism or confederation that is specifically and only pertinent to =
the
Atlantic world. Whereas most Atlantic history now focuses on a =
particular
set of peoples, places, migrations, and systems that form a coherent and
meaningful whole, this work struggles to force together the history of =
the
Atlantic and the history of the two sociopolitical forms in which =
Ch=E1vez is
interested. While examples of imperialism and confederation can, of =
course,
be found in the Atlantic world, they are not unique to it, and at times =
his
narrative threatens to move beyond its stated bounds with references to
imperial Japan or the United Nations. Although conceived as a work of
Atlantic history, Ch=E1vez's scholarship sometimes seems uncomfortable =
within
its purported Atlantic bounds.

Finally, this reviewer would have found a little more clarity in =
terminology
helpful. Ch=E1vez has a tendency to use such terms as "nation," "ethnic
region," or "homeland" interchangeably, and it is not always clear in =
what
ways they are, or are not, different. Similarly, greater discussion of =
what
is meant by imperialism (formal or informal) and confederation or =
federation
would have been useful. In _Beyond Nations _these terms cover a range of
institutions and actions and seem, at times, to obscure their important
differences or to oversimplify their nature. Many Europeans, for =
instance,
would struggle to recognize the EU Ch=E1vez describes. Nonetheless, this =
is an
important and provocative book that offers students of the Atlantic =
world
much to consider.

Citation: Catherine Styer. Review of Ch=E1vez, John R., _Beyond Nations:
Evolving Homelands in the North Atlantic World, 1400-2000_. H-Albion, =
H-Net
Reviews. March, 2011.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=3D31044

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
License.

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Article,
'Nothing but a Pack of Cards': Semi-fictitious Persons and
Flopping Jellyfish in Elizabeth Bowen
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The latest issue of Women: A Cultural Review has 2 articles of interest.
One on Elizabeth Bowen...=20

'Nothing but a Pack of Cards': Semi-fictitious Persons and Flopping
Jellyfish in Elizabeth Bowen=20

Author: ren=E9e c. hoogland

Abstract
Taking the wildly conflicting critical evaluations of Elizabeth Bowen's
final novel, Eva Trout, or Changing Scenes (1969) as its starting-point,
this essay argues against 'interpreting' both the novel and its =
'monstrous'
heroine in conventional representational terms, to argue, instead, for =
an
appreciation, or experience, of both novel and protagonist as =
instantiations
of a process of becoming along Deleuzian lines. Rather than seeing =
Bowen's
final novel as a (failed) attempt to do what the Anglo-Irish writer's
previous work would have suggested this text to do as well, the novel =
and
its eponymous heroine are approached as Bowen's rigorously ethical =
effort
to, first, obviate the opposition between living and writing, and =
second, to
show, rather than claim, that art and life are indissolubly connected.
Drawing on both Gilles Deleuze's notion of the 'traitor-prophet', whose
function is to call both the world of dominant signification and the
established order into question, and on Deleuze's counterpart Flix
Guattari's concept of the work of art as an activity of 'unframing', the
article ultimately suggests that the novel's effect, beyond =
representation
and, indeed, through its own and its protagonist's language, is the
'undoing' of the reader, opening up a realm of virtual becoming that is
neither reassuring nor to be captured in the chains of signification.

Keywords: Elizabeth Bowen; fabulation; Flix Guattari; Gilles Deleuze; =
lines
of flight; post-interpretation; post-representation

Published in: Women: A Cultural Review, Volume 22, Issue 1 March 2011 ,
pages 1 - 14

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Article,
Making It Up with the Motherland: Revision and Reconciliation in
Edna O'Brien's The Light of Evening
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One on Edna O'Brien...

Making It Up with the Motherland: Revision and Reconciliation in Edna
O'Brien's The Light of Evening=20

Author: Ellen McWilliams

Abstract
This article explores the relationship between the Irish woman writer =
and
exile and return in Edna O'Brien's recent novel The Light of Evening =
(2006).
This work, dedicated as it is 'To my mother and my motherland', =
represents a
new chapter in O'Brien's configuration of the connection between the =
Irish
woman writer and the image of Ireland as a place from which escape is a
necessary step towards creative freedom. The Light of Evening contains a =
web
of subtle allusions that invite a reading of the novel as a statement of
O'Brien's allegiances with the English and Irish literary traditions.
Ultimately, however, it foregrounds the quotidian world of the main
character's home place=97one represented fully in her mother's =
letters=97as the
key source of inspiration for the Irish woman writer. The article =
examines
how relationships with the literary past are mapped onto familial ties =
in
the novel, as O'Brien seems to move away from the Joycean promise of
creative exile towards a more hopeful reading of the relationship =
between
the Irish woman writer and her 'motherland'.

Keywords: Edna O'Brien; Irish woman writer; Ireland; motherland;
intertextuality; revision; influence; James Joyce; Samuel Richardson;
Charlotte Bront=EB

Published in: Women: A Cultural Review, Volume 22, Issue 1 March 2011 ,
pages 50 - 68

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: First world war soldiers' historic football saved for posterity
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First world war soldiers' historic football saved for posterity
Soccer-mad British troops tried to score a 'goal' in German trenches at
battle of Loos

Steven Morris and agencies
guardian.co.uk,

A leather football that British soldiers dribbled through no man's land
while coming under machine-gun fire during a first world war battle has been
saved for posterity after being discovered in an old box.

Members of the London Irish Rifles soccer team smuggled the ball out of
their own trenches - against orders - during the battle of Loos in 1915 and
passed it among themselves, determined to boot it into the German lines.

They didn't make it and the ball ended up pierced on barbed wire. It was
retrieved from the battlefield, displayed for a while at the regimental
museum and eventually stored in a container, forgotten and in danger of
perishing.

The ball has now been conserved by experts and is to go back on display this
weekend at the regimental museum in Camberwell, south-east London.

Nigel Wilkinson, vice-chairman of the London Irish Rifles Regimental
Association, said the soldiers originally had six balls that they planned to
take with them into no man's land but their commanding officer shot five of
them when he heard what was being planned.

(MODERATOR'S NOTE: I think that this means that the officer shot five
footballs, not five soldiers.)

FULL TEXT AT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/10/first-world-war-football-battle-
loos

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Cian McMahon
Subject: Irish Emigration Exaggerated??
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I thought the following article, which was published in the Irish Times
today (Sat 12 March), would be of interest to the IR-D List.

Thanks,
Cian McMahon

"Expert Says Irish Emigration Wildly Exaggerated"

IRELAND IS in the grip of a =93media, moral and public panic=94 about
emigration that is not justified by the number of Irish people leaving th=
e
country, a migration expert has said.

Prof James Wickham, director of the Employment Research Centre at Trinity
College, told a conference yesterday that during the general election
campaign politicians and the media wildly exaggerated emigration rates.

For rest of article, see:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0312/1224291980040.html

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: CFP Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland Conference
2011, Dublin
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Newspaper & Periodical History Forum of Ireland
http://www.newspapersperiodicals.org/

Conference 2011 - Call for Papers

The theme for the 2011 Conference, to be held at the National Library of
Ireland, Dublin, on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 November, is: 'Writing the
press into history'. This theme examines how journalism and the press has
been, and can be, integrated into wider political, economic, social and
cultural histories. Given the growth in the number of scholars, both
nationally and internationally, writing about the history of journalism and
the press it is timely to examine critically what all this activity means
for the relationship between writing about the press and 'mainstream'
national and transnational histories.

Topics that conference papers might address include:

The role of the press in politics and diplomacy

The journalist as historian or as participant / witness to historical events

The business of newspapers & periodicals as part of the wider economy

Journalistic biography / autobiography

The press as participant in, or its impact on, historical events

Writing press history

Using newspapers and periodicals as a source for historical research

The press and global / transnational history

There will be a special open session during the conference for early stage
researchers, at which emerging scholars, who are researching any aspect of
newspaper, periodical or journalism history, may present their research.

To submit a proposal, please email a 500-word summary of your paper to the
Forum secretary, Mark O'Brien, at: nphficonference[at]gmail.com

Please also include a brief biographical note and please also indicate if
you wish to participate in the session for early stage researchers.

To join the Forum, please contact the membership secretary, Caroline
Connolly, at caroline.connolly26[at]mail.dcu.ie

The closing date for submission of proposals is 31 May 2011.

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Honoring Irish Immigrants to San Francisco: An Afternoon of
Storytelling
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Subject: Honoring Irish Immigrants to San Francisco: An Afternoon of =
Storytelling

HONORING BAY AREA IRISH IMMIGRANTS THIS SUNDAY

Join us this Sunday afternoon as we honor and celebrate the voices and =
contributions of Irish men and women who emigrated from Ireland to the =
San Francisco Bay Area during the 1940=E2=80=99s, 50=E2=80=99s and early =
60=E2=80=99s =E2=80=93 and their Irish-American counterparts of this =
same generation.

In this event, individuals from the Crossroads Irish Oral History =
Archive of the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as other members of the =
community, will tell their stories in their own words.

Audience members will also be invited to tell their stories relating to =
emigration from Ireland or growing up in the Irish communities of the =
San Francisco Bay Area

=3D=3D=3D

EVENT DETAILS:

WHAT: Making it Home: Irish Immigrants of the 1950's =E2=80=93 An =
Afternoon of Storytelling

WHERE: United Irish Cultural Center (St. Francis Room), 2700 45th Avenue =
[at] Sloat, SF

WHEN: This Sunday, March 13th [at] 2pm-4pm

WHO: Crossroads extends a special invitation to those who emigrated from =
Ireland to the SF Bay Area as part of the 1950=E2=80=99s generation, and =
their Irish-American counterparts. This event is open to the public.

=3D=3D=3D

ABOUT THE CROSSROADS IRISH ORAL HISTORY ARCHIVE OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY =
AREA

The Crossroads Irish-American Festival is creating the first-ever oral =
history archive of the Irish and Irish-American communities of the Bay =
Area. This oral history project is composed of audio recordings of =
individuals telling their own stories about their own experiences of =
emigrating to or growing up in the Bay Area. If you or someone you know =
would like to be part of this project, please contact us.

=E2=87=92 415/810-3774
=E2=87=92 info[at]irishamericanfestival.org

Our mailing address is:=20
Irish-American Crossroads
PO Box 170672
San Francisco, California 94117

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Conference: Celts in the Americas,
Saint Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia
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The link below, in the Original Message will take you to the Conference =
web
site, and a pdf of the full Conference schedule.

Much to interest the Irish language specialists - for example...

Ailish Bhreathnach, =93A sociolinguistic comparison between =85 Nova =
Scotia and
Ireland=94
January Mullin, =93The Irish language in New Brunswick=94
Lesa N=ED Mhunghaile, =93The prevalence of the Irish language in eastern
Ontario=94
Peter M. Toner, =93Irish Language Survival in Canada
Kevin McLaughlin, =93Conradh na Gaeilge =85 Gaelic League of Pittsburgh: =
A Brief
History =85=94
=97 Kenneth Nilsen, =93Bealach Cheanada: Twentieth-Century Gaeltacht =
Immigration
to Canada=94

But there are also papers about folklore and music. One of the keynote
speakers is Gear=F3id =D3 hAllmhur=E1in...

Gear=F3id =D3 hAllmhur=E1in, =93 =91The Stranger=92s Land=92: Musical =
Traditions and=20
Postmodern Temptations in the Celtic Soundscapes of North America.=94

'Transported and nurtured by Scottish and Irish communities who settled
throughout North America since the eighteenth century, Celtic music =
today is
as much a global media commodity as it is a calling card of ethnic =
identity
or a marker of diasporic space. This multimedia presentation will =
address
the historic trajectory of Irish and Scottish music from the colonial
peripheries of the British Isles to the rural fringes and urban centers =
of
the New World. Encompassing a series of historical and =
ethnomusicological
metanarratives, the lecture will critique the diachronic confluence of
ethnoscapes, mediascapes, technoscapes, ideoscapes, and finanscapes that
continue to redefine the complex relationship between the Celtic =
homelands
and their diasporic music communities in North America.'

And of course all this in a fascinating discursive context...

P.O'S.



-----Original Message-----

The Celts in the Americas conference will be held 29 June - 2 July, 2011 =
at
Saint Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, hosted by the Celtic =
Studies
Department of St FX and the Centre for Cape Breton Studies at Cape =
Breton
University.

The Celts in the Americas conference will offer a unique opportunity to
share scholarship about the history, culture, and literature of
Celtic-speaking peoples in North and South America: it will be the first
academic conference devoted to this theme, with presentations about =
aspects
of the experiences and literatures of the communities speaking Breton,
Cornish, Irish Gaelic, Manx Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, or Welsh in the
Americas. One day of the conference will be devoted to examining the
interactions between Celtic peoples and non-Celtic peoples in the =
Americas,
with a special emphasis on indigenous peoples and peoples of African
descent.

Registration forms and other details are available at:
http://www.mystfx.ca/academic/celtic-studies/conf2011.html

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: TOC Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Volume 17 Issue 1,
Special Issue: Diaspora and Citizenship
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The latest issue of
Nationalism and Ethnic Politics: Volume 17 Issue 1
is a Special Issue: Diaspora and Citizenship

TOC pasted in below...

Many IR-D members will find this special issue of use and interest - though
Ireland and the Irish are not mentioned. And the case studies in the
individual articles are very specific. But I think that that is the nature
of the discussion at the moment - specific and individual solutions and
discussions, cumulatively going somewhere...

The editors of the Special Issue, Elena Barabantseva and Claire Sutherland
give the arguments a good chewing in their tightly packed Introduction...

'The majority of current citizenship debates focus on the ways in which
diasporic and migrant communities affect the citizenship regime in their
country of settlement. In contrast, the articles in this special issue focus
on the relationship between the sending state and its diasporic communities
abroad. In so doing, the contributions seek to delink understandings of
citizenship from state territoriality. The articles assembled here stress
that both sending, or kin-states, and diasporic people actively engage in
the process of revising the meaning of citizenship. They demonstrate
important ways in which diasporas affect the delineation of citizenship
regimes and the politics of national identity in their homeland. They also
trace the salience of ethnic and cultural markers in diaspora politics and
their implications for the articulations and practices of citizenship.

Every nationalist variant, whether terrorist, democratic or "banal,"1
pursues the political goal of embodying its interpretation of the nation
through territory, institutions, and, in some cases, the national diaspora.
Furthermore, and as the name "nation-state" suggests, a sense of national
belonging represents one of the key sources of legitimacy and loyalty for
states.

...Many of the debates surrounding diasporas and their politics also turn on
the issue of loyalty. For instance, this slippery concept pervades the
question of citizenship, which is currently so closely tied to
nation-statehood that it can be considered the legal expression of national
belonging. Citizenship continues to be regarded as a badge of loyalty to the
nation-state, as exemplified in ceremonies involving oath-taking, or the
practice of stripping political exiles of their citizenship. Put another
way, loyalty is seen as one of the duties of citizenship, in return for
state rights, security, and protection...'


Diaspora and Citizenship: Introduction, Pages 1 - 13
Authors: Elena Barabantseva; Claire Sutherland

The Making of Greece Abroad: Continuity and Change in the Modern Diaspora
Politics of a "Historical" Irredentist Homeland, Pages 14 - 33
Author: Elpida Vogli

Experimenting with Diasporic Incorporation: The Overseas Citizenship of
India, Pages 34 - 53
Author: Constantino Xavier

Russia and Post-Soviet "Russian Diaspora": Contrasting Visions, Conflicting
Projects, Pages 54 - 74
Author: Natalya Kosmarskaya

Perpetual Diaspora, Changing Homelands: The Construction of Russian-Speaking
Jews as a Diaspora of Both Israel and Russia, Pages 75 - 95
Author: Illa Ben-Porat

From Diaspora to Diaspora: The Case of Transylvanian Saxons in Romania and
Germany, Pages 96 - 115
Authors: James Koranyi; Ruth Wittlinger

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: The Birmingham Six: Have we learned from our disgraceful past?
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This article by Gareth Peirce appeared in today's Guardian.

The Birmingham Six: Have we learned from our disgraceful past?

The Birmingham Six were released exactly 20 years ago, but the injustices
that led to their wrongful conviction are now coming to bear on a new
'suspect community'

Gareth Peirce
The Guardian, Saturday 12 March 2011

At the trial in London last year of a young Muslim, one defence closing
speech clearly interested the jury. In the case it was considering, it was
being asked to infer involvement in terrorism from coincidences of
association and the defendant's clear interest in radical Islam. The speech
recalled another trial, that of the Birmingham Six, based equally on
seemingly damning coincidences of faith, association and political
loyalties. In that case six men, all Irish, all Catholic, had been drinking
in a pub at New Street station in Birmingham before boarding a train to
catch a ferry to Belfast. Within six minutes, bombs exploded in two pubs on
the station precincts. The men, all carrying mass cards, were travelling to
the funeral of a friend, an IRA man who had blown himself up whilst
assembling a bomb. All were Republican sympathisers. All were convicted in
1975 of the murders of the 21 victims killed in the explosions in the pubs
shortly after their train had left for the Heysham ferry. All were
completely innocent. Applying lessons of past injustice to the present, the
jury acquitted the young Muslim man.

On 14 March 1991 the Birmingham Six finally walked free. Today, 20 years on,
it is vital to appreciate the horrifying detail of what happened to them,
and how the truth was not acknowledged for 16 years. The annihilation of
justice for others remains an ever-present spectre. The replaying of their
triumphal re-entry into the street outside the Old Bailey triggers only
partial recollection; Richard McIlkenny steady and philosophical, "Every dog
has his day"; Billy Power, looking ahead, thinking of others - "Judith Ward,
the Bridgewater Four." And Paddy Hill, burning with rage, "Justice? Those
people in there don't even know how to spell the word." It had been his
anger, sustained for 16 years, that scorched a route by which ultimately the
six would escape. By 1980, he had written more than 1,000 detailed letters
to lawyers, MPs, journalists; most never replied, almost all who did,
answered similarly: "I'm afraid the odds against you are overwhelming."...

Full text at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/mar/12/gareth-peirce-birmingham-s
ix?INTCMP=SRCH