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UCD
lecturer in social psychology O'Connell analyses,
according to his book's subtitle, "the rise of
populism in Ireland and Europe." (ISBN 1-904148-34-4;
Raheny, Dublin 5, © 2003, 12 euros) Part of The
Liffey Press' series "Pressure Points in Irish
Society," this monograph looks all too familiar.
Graphs, charts, lots of chapters not on Ireland itself
but the European far-right at first led me to treat
much of the contents as padding up the thin paperback
to its 148 pp. Having all the appearances of a supplemental
reading for a sociological course, I wondered what
Dr O'C's pricy publication would teach me.
Well,
the European comparisons did take up a precious thirty
pages, but they do afford the curious reader a context
within which to place an increasingly multi-cultural
nation beset or blessed by economic turnabouts that
previously unsettled continental countries.
Most
apropos to The Blanket's audience, O'C's brief considerations
of republicanism raise provocative concerns, given
last month's results of the referendum on Irish citizenship
and the European Parliament results for the more Euro-sceptic
constituencies.
He
claims: "Irish conservatism is shifting-indeed
has shifted-from a traditional Catholic clericalism
to a radical right-wing populism." (3) Radical-its
proponents "often reject important elements of
consensus politics." Right-wing-for it "includes
a component of hostility to foreigners or outsiders."
Populist-"in that its rhetoric seeks to exploit
an alleged chasm between an unrepresentative political
elite and an unrepresented general public." His
chapters elaborate his thesis. The first summarises
recent "slump politics," Euro-scepticism,
and immigration and minority debates. The second looks
at declines in church attendance, educational levels,
and economic income by charting these factors that
make-up "the Irish authoritarian." Positions
against minorities have hardened, O'C asserts, despite
the gains attributed to the Celtic Tiger, for the
same boom has brought Irish who have not benefited
so much from the past decade's profits into increased
contact with competition from immigrants, such encounters
often having been resisted by those fearing undercutting
of wages, cultural decline, and unfair competition.
Chapter
three compares nativist reactions to earlier ones
in Western Europe, offering then a recipe for "populist
success in a nutshell." Among the ten ingredients:
putting "people, popular, or freedom" in
the movement's title; employing an eccentric leader
taking on the people in grey; oppose further integration
with the EU; advance religious liberty but denounce
Islam's intolerance; resist immigration in the name
of defending tradition; blame a crime wave on immigrants
and those too blinkered by PC thinking to notice this;
keep stressing the costs of such immigration, the
fake asylum seekers, and call for deportations. How
many diners relish this slumgullion? O'C responds
that gains from 1997-2002 for far-right European parties
prove the appeal of such a dish. Earlier, he defends
his extended investigation because "paranoia
is healthy" when it comes to spotting proto-fascist
elements. He denies any "value-free" coverage
is possible. I counter that Dr O'Connell's justification
undermines his scholarship. He objects. Citing a racist
lynching: "Apparent academic calm in the face
of such an event already suggests a political commitment."
(131) I can separate editorial advocacy from critical
analysis, and any charged content, in my opinion,
speaks here for itself. (We'll agree to disagree.)
Consequently,
two subsequent chapters on Irish far-right prospects
and how to counter them propel O'Connell's argument.
He finds that the wealthier European countries-Ireland
ranking third in this particular standing of PPPs
(purchasing power parities)-number among them those
"in which right-wing populism has been relatively
successful in recent years." (89) He intersperses
field interviews with focus groups from a variety
of Dublin neighbourhoods having undergone significant
change towards heterogeneity. Manners vs. ignorance,
the accommodations and grants given asylum-seekers,
and the amount of non-nationals arrested and incarcerated
all find voice among the poorer Dubliners interviewed.
Middle-class informants denied racist attitudes and
called those who resented the entry of newcomers 'hypocrites.'
(93) O'Connell predicts the reactions found among
the working and poorer classes will become even more
common.
The
expansion of the EU will bring more immigrants to
Ireland; skepticism towards such integration will
worsen attitudes of those who will blame their declining
fortunes on these arrivals; nostalgia will appeal
as right-wing elements address this discontent. These
three factors, O'Connell explains, might introduce
one of four situations. Based on recent European far-right
reactions, he extrapolates possible scenarios for
the Irish. First, "Innovation," or a sudden
shake-up. Rather unlikely, he estimates, with Áine
ní Chonaill's Immigration Control Platform
in Cork as its spokesperson, who O'C finds "not
overburdened with charisma." (101) Second, "Transformation,"
as a marginalised party shifts to shake up (down?)
fresh votes. Along with Fine Gael and the Progressive
Democrats, Dr O'Connell considers Sinn Féin.
Although
he finds such an about-turn unlikely "under the
current Northern leadership," SF could spin about
if its later momentum took it further in the other
direction. "A Dublin-based leadership might find
a radical anti-immigrant nationalist-populism playing
well on the doorsteps." I might add that audacious
as such step-dancing seems to us, that this jiggery-pokery
over a century of this very party has appealed to
anti-semitism, protectionism, chauvinism alongside
its anti-British raison d'étre, from Griffith
on. O'Connell adds a disclaimer: "Against that
likelihood are the historical leftist and anti-fascist
(anti-Blueshirt) traditions of republicanism, from
the 1930s as well as their current anti 'big-capital'
posturing." (103) Posturing, as many readers
of The Blanket might agree, remains a key description
here for the current Northern leadership and those
like Mary Lou McDonald--given her background--who
hoist the tricolour southwards.
The
third, "Absorption," might appeal to a rightward
move by Fianna Fáil, who often calls itself
"the populist party of Ireland"-the fourth,
a "Split" (which every Irish political model
apparently demands) could be "nominally independent"
FF campaigners playing the "race card" to
widen their appeal. (104) The final chapter's title
repeats Lenin's question "What is to be done?"
but offers gentler solutions. In a Socratic dialogue,
this lecturer refutes ten objections. He concludes
that the numbers of newcomers are exaggerated, that
appeals to humanity can trump those to weakness, and
that EU policies need to be improved along with Irish
procedures to handle the inevitable transformation
away from insularity. He contends that his anti-populist
bias promotes transparency to open up bureaucracies
and to defeat demagogues. Dr O'Connell here offers
a valuable and concise introduction to a crucial issue
for 21st century Irish debate.
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