Social Justice Matters

55. SJI Interview Series Ep28: Visions for Community Wellbeing - Public Participation Networks

There has been a recent political shift towards wellbeing, with talk of a Wellbeing Budget for 2021 and the publication of a discussion document on Wellbeing Indicators with that Budget. This is a good thing, but how those Wellbeing Indicators are developed, and who is consulted, will be key to their success.

In 2018, the Public Participation Networks (PPNs) embarked on a large consultative project to develop Visions for Community Wellbeing across all Local Authority areas. This process saw community groups come together to develop a vision for their community for this and future generations.

In this episode of Social Justice Matters, Colette Bennett speaks to Siobhán Cronogue of Longford PPN, Helen Howes of County Wicklow PPN and Dr. Harriet Emerson, independent consultant, about the process of developing these Visions; their policy impact, and the potential for this process to inform the national Wellbeing Indicators.

54. SJI Seminars Ep15: Joe Larragy - Social dialogue and social contract in a world at fever pitch: what are the chances?

Dr Joe Larragy, author of Asymmetric Engagement: the Community and Voluntary Pillar in Irish Social Partnership, 2014, is Lecturer in Social Policy since 2001. He studied Economics and Sociology in TCD, and graduated with a BA (mod) there before gaining an MA in Social Theory from UCC. He previously was Social Policy Analyst at the National Economic and Social Council and prior to that Research Officer at the National Council on Ageing and Older People. While working at Maynooth, he was awarded a PhD in Social Policy from UCD. His research interests include Ageing, state-civil society relationships. He has worked with several organisations in the statutory and NGO sector. In 2012  was founding chair of Maynooth Green Campus, which engages in education and action to promote climate justice and sustainable practices. He is a member of the Pensions Policy Research Group, COST Action on Reducing Old-Age Social Exclusion: Collaborations in Research and Policy (ROSENet). He represents Maynooth University as a member of the NUI senate. 

 

In this paper, presented at the Social Justice Ireland Annual Social Policy Conference, Joe considers the role for a New Social Contract in today's society.

53. SJI Seminar Series Ep14: Philippe Pochet - Four ways out for the post-COVID-19 period

Philippe Pochet is General Director of the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and associated researcher at the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT, Montreal). Prior to becoming Director of the ETUI in 2008, he was Director of the Observatoire social européen (OSE) for 16 years.

He is interested at and has published extensively books and articles on European social and economic policies, European social dialogue and new forms of governance. 

He is now working on the issues of impact of climate change and digitalisation on jobs and seeking how to combine the analysis of the big trends. Previously he had other temporary positions, such as invited Professor at the College of Bruges and invited scholar at the Faculté Universitaire Saint-Louis (FUSL), adjunct professor and visiting scholar at Griffith University (Brisbane). He was also visiting scholar at Berkeley University, at Montréal University, at the Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung (Cologne), and at the Centre for European Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge (USA). In 2005, he was awarded an EU Fulbright-in-Residence grant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA).

 

In his paper, presented at the Social Justice Ireland Annual Policy Conference on the 18th November 2020, Philippe discussed the fact that, at the European level, what the pandemic has cast doubt on is the very fundamentals of European integration. The main features of the European Union, what could be described as its “pillars”, are these: the single market and freedom of movement, the euro and the Stability and Growth Pact, and competition and state-aid law. We can already look ahead and see that the post-crisis EU could be standing on very different foundations if the questioning of the three basic pillars continues over time or, conversely, it could just as easily go back to its old ways.  What will the world environment in which this happens be, though? Here, Philippe provides four possible scenarios emerging.

52. SJI Seminar Ep13: Ann Pettifor, Ireland and Europe: the urgent need for a social, economic and ecologically just transformation.

Ann Pettifor is best known for her prediction of the Great Financial Crisis in The Coming First World Debt Crisis (Palgrave 2006).  In 2008 she co-authored The Green New Deal published by New Economics Foundation. In 2017 Verso published The Production of Money on the nature of money, debt and the finance sector. She is the author of The Case for The Green New Deal (Verso, 2019).

In her paper for the Social Justice Ireland Annual Social Policy Conference, Ann speaks of the urgent need for ambitious, cohesive and transformative economic policies and for Europe’s need to face challenges collectively, and in solidarity. But Europe must do more. The upcoming challenges are daunting: not just the ecological and economic failure brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and the risk of a debt-deflationary downward economic spiral,  but also the economic divergences that have led to the rise of anti-Europe sentiment, nationalism and populism; and the grave, even terrifying ecological risks that transcend borders.  

51. SJI Interviews Series Ep27: Jerome Marston, Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack

International Children's Day is November 20th. To mark this occasion, Colette Bennett chats with Jerome Marston, Researcher with the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack about their 2020 report - Education Under Attack 2020 and why this issue is so important, particularly to children growing up in areas of armed conflict.

50.SJI Ten Minute Lessons Ep11: Deliberative Democracy and the Development of the Public Participation Networks

Deliberative democracy goes beyond mere representation to give a voice to all citizens in the decision-making process. The development of the Public Participation Networks (PPNs) in 2014 provided a mechanism for community groups to have their say in local government decision-making. With over 15,000 member organisations, PPNs are going from strength to strength. In this Ten Minute Lesson, we take a quick look at the pathway to the development of the PPNs.

In other news, we are delighted that Social Justice Matters has been recognised by FeedSpot as one of the 20 social justice podcasts you should follow in 2020. Check out the list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/social_justice_podcasts/

49. SJI Interviews Ep26: Emmet Kirwan in conversation with Mick Clifford

Emmet Kirwan is an Irish actor and playwright, best known for his 2014 play Dublin Oldschool and the 2018 movie of the same name. He is also an activist whose work has always had a political tone.

He finds this an easier way to address the social issues he wants to address. "If you have a narrative, people can’t attack that in the same way they can an individual who speaks out".

At our 2018 Social Policy Conference, Emmet sat down with Mick Clifford of the Irish Examiner for a chat that covered everything from political activism to education policy and personal debt.

48. SJI Interviews Ep25: Ciaran Nugent (NERI) on the Irish labour market

Our guest interview this week is Ciaran Nugent, an an economist with the Nevin Economic Research Institute. We discuss some recent trends in the Irish labour market, and a broader vision for the future of the Irish economy.

In other news, we are delighted that Social Justice Matters has been recognised by FeedSpot as one of the 20 social justice podcasts you should be following in 2020. Check out the list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/social_justice_podcasts/

47. SJI Seminars Ep12: Our Budget 2021 Analysis Seminar

Less than 24 hours after Ministers Donohoe and McGrath stood up in the Convention Centre to deliver the Budget speech, Social Justice Ireland published the first full and comprehensive analysis of Budget 2021.

In this podcast, you can listen to our post-Budget 2021 seminar, delivered the morning after Budget Day, where we launched this analysis.

Did government take the correct fiscal stance? What is it doing to reduce poverty and inequality? Does the Budget do enough to address climate change? How is the government dealing with the housing crisis? How will Ireland’s most vulnerable fare in Budget 2021? These questions and more are answered.

In other news, we are delighted that Social Justice Matters has been recognised by FeedSpot as one of the 20 social justice podcasts you should be following in 2020. Check out the list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/social_justice_podcasts/

46. SJI Ten Minute Lessons Ep10: What is the Budget, and how will it affect you?

Budget 2021 is just around the corner. In the latest episode of our Ten Minute Lessons series, we bring you through the Budget process, when you might expect to feel the impact of the Budget and how you can advocate for change.

In other news, we are delighted that Social Justice Matters has been recognised by FeedSpot as one of the 20 social justice podcasts you should be following in 2020. Check out the list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/social_justice_podcasts/