July 2008 New Study on Activism Traces Green Movement's Emergence

NUI Galway academic Dr. Liam Leonard has said the success of civil society groups and social movements in the Lisbon Treaty referendum bodes well for the Irish environment. According to Dr. Leonard, the effectiveness of the No Campaign's 'motley crew' has illustrated the relationship between activism and power. Dr. Leonard was speaking as his new book, which studies activists and the environmental movement in Ireland, was published online. The book, 'The Environmental Movement in Ireland' has been co-written by Michael O' Kane of Australia's Monash University. In the spirit of activism and information sharing, the book is available free to download to members of the public. This is the third book in the Ecopolitics Series, and studies activists in Ireland between the 1997 and 2007 general elections. The relationship between activism and research is explored through a series of case studies, interviews and articles. According to Dr. Leonard, who works with NUI Galway's Social Sciences Research Centre: "The success of civil society groups and social movements in the Lisbon Treaty referendum has increased our focus on the relationship between activism and power. This book provides an account of political events from an activist's perspective, thereby creating further understandings of the motivations of those in society who are so often on outside of the mainstream, but who have influenced events both nationally and throughout Europe in recent political campaigns." Activists with the Irish Green Party in working class areas of Dublin provide the focus for Irish-Australian anthropologist Michael O'Kane's in depth study on the 1997 election campaign. This is followed by a series of articles Liam Leonard, an Irish-American political sociologist, based on his work as a researcher and journalist in Galway between 1999 and 2008. The book is available to download for free at http://www.ecopoliticsonline.com/ -ends-