Ireland’s apparent evolution, in the modern era, from colony to protectionist backwater to hyper-globalised society is a narrative under increased scrutiny. The degree to which these paradigm shifts have been biopolitical in cause and effect is a topical theme in sociology, anthropology, and economics. By contrast, those areas which come under the remit of ‘Irish Studies’ have been shaped largely by a culturist concern with notions of nation as opposed to state. This is in spite of the fact that, as David Lloyd suggests, ‘modern Irish literature has always been highly attuned to the workings of the biopolitical state’, and, as with a related lack of interest in class, it may be attributed to what Michael Pierse calls ‘a window-dressing awareness of the American gaze’. The nominally objective gaze of post-nationalist Ireland, however, is just as relevant.
Biopolitical Ireland is an inter-disciplinary conference which aims to facilitate debate in this area with a broad thematic emphasis, including the theme of the family, LGBT issues, reproductive rights, class, migrancy, and the workings of biopolitical formations in cultural life.