Transnational Encounters from the local to the global
Transnational Encounters from the local to the global
Leader:
Dr. Enrico Dal Lago
Dr. Roisín Healy
Members:
Professor Paolo Bartoloni (Italian; Head of Department)
Professor Dan Carey (English; Associate Director, Moore Institute)
Ms Aoife Connolly (French; PhD student)
Dr Enrico Dal Lago (History)
Dr Róisín Healy (History)
Dr Su-Ming Khoo (Sociology & Politics)
Dr Charlotte McIvor (English)
Mr Paul McNamara (History; PhD student)
Dr Niall Ó Dochartaigh (Sociology & Politics) Dr Kevin O’Sullivan (History)
Dr Adrian Paterson (English)
Mr Joe Regan (History; PhD student)
Mr Cathal Smith (History; PhD student)
Dr Jackie UÍ Chionna (Moore Institute; post-doctoral fellow)
Description:
Research questions, topics, terrains: What happens when cultures, societies and ideologies collude and collide? ‘Transnational Encounters’ brings together an inter-disciplinary group of researchers from across the university to explore the role of transnational ideas, actions and phenomena in the making of the modern world, and to investigate the tensions between the transnational, national and local. Does past experience suggest that it is possible to form working relationships on transnational issues such as human rights, humanitarianism and environmentalism? To what extent do people define themselves according to transnational encounters and their perceptions of others? How did states, élites and societies tackle the questions such as immigration and population change that are symptomatic of a transnational world? How did governments resolve conflicts caused by transnational issues in a peaceful manner? What is the relationship between nationalism and transnationalism in the long-term macro historical development of ethnic conflicts, warfare and coercive social action? Can the study of past and present transnational encounters help us to better understand the dialogue between local and global contexts that is at the heart of the globalisation process? To what extent are fundamental aspects of the past and present human experience universal or shaped by local cultures? Benefit of shared expertise / inter-disciplinary approach:
By its very nature, the term ‘transnational’ implies the sharing of experiences across existing boundaries and borders. So too our research area is driven by the belief that to better understand the dynamics of the modern world requires the tools of collaboration and a rigorously inter-disciplinary approach. The range of approaches adopted by group members will allow us to embrace the spectrum of spatial and temporal dimensions associated with transnational encounters. Our sharing of expertise will bring together various geographical foci and our focus on different chronological periods to form a more coherent analysis of the global dynamics of transnational exchange. At the heart of our approach is the recognition that transnational ideas and phenomena are and were experienced at different levels – by individuals and by communities (whether local, national or global) – and in different ways. It follows, to borrow from Bruce Mazlish (The New Global History, 2006), that because these processes ‘have broken down many of the boundaries in our daily lives’, so too their analysis requires the blurring of disciplinary boundaries. The establishment of ‘Transnational Encounters’ as a priority research area will enable us to consolidate our existing contacts and collaborations and to extend them in new and exciting ways. Relationship to current developments in humanities and social sciences: ‘Transnational encounters’ responds to an emerging consensus in humanities and social science research that the nation-state is no longer a satisfactory organising framework for how we view the world, especially in light of the rise of globalisation. The members of the ‘Transnational Encounters’ group already work on themes that are at the heart of these developments: comparative history, global history, global civil society, global North-South encounters, the study of nationalism and national identity. The importance of the ‘Transnational Encounters’ research theme does not stop at disciplinary boundaries. It answers an urgent need in Europe for research into past examples of cultural encounters to help inform the response to present-day challenges – HERA’s latest funding call, ‘Cultural Encounters’, is the perfect example of this approach in action.
Status: On-going
