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Fragments of Victory

Fragments of Victory

The Contemporary Irish Left

Edited by Oisín Gilmore and David Landy

Inspiring insiders' accounts of modern Irish activism under austerity and beyond

There is much to learn from modern left-wing activism in Ireland. A rich tapestry of movements, including republicans, social democrats, trade unions, Trotskyists and anarchists, they have been battling neoliberalism and austerity with vigour, frustration, success and failure.

Fragments of Victory charts these political currents, from the difficult early years of anti-austerity campaigning, to the successful mass campaign to end water charges and prevent water privatisation, and the seismic victory that was 'Repeal' - the campaign for women's reproductive rights. Looking to the present, the campaign around the brutal housing crisis is also addressed.

Each chapter covers a different campaign or group, written by leading activists who provide insiders' perspectives on how history was made, and share valuable insights that can be applied to international movements everywhere.

Oisín Gilmore is Senior Economist at TASC (Thinktank for Action on Social Change) in Dublin, Ireland. He has participated in various social movements in Ireland, Britain and continental Europe.

David Landy is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology in Trinity College Dublin and Director of the MPhil in Race, Ethnicity, Conflict. He has written for Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and Social Movement Studies on the water charges movement, Irish anti-racism and Palestinian solidarity. He is the author of Jewish Identity and Palestinian Rights, and co-editor of Enforcing Silence: Academic Freedom and Criticism of Israel.

'Activists in movements and the left often feel despair because they have never experienced successful mass struggles – unlike the Republic of Ireland. In 2014-16 working-class communities stopped the introduction of water charges through widespread direct action, while 2018 saw mass participation win abortion rights in the teeth of church power. Written by activists, this book tells these and other key stories of Irish movements and left groups as a key resource for struggles elsewhere'

- Laurence Cox, author of We Make Our Own History: Marxism and Social Movements in the Twilight of Neoliberalism

'A partisan work in the best sense of the term. The authors’ sympathies only sharpen their critical analysis of the left’s victories and defeats. There is much to learn here for those who seek to understand and change the world'

- Paul Murphy TD, People Before Profit

'This book captures the sheer energy and diversity of the Irish left at grassroot level and in key campaigns around housing, abortion rights, and public services, bringing clarity to a movement that is rarely given space to explain itself in the mainstream media'

- Conor McCabe, researcher and editor of The Lost and Early Writings of James Connolly 1889-1898

"This book is an important reminder that change often comes only through grassroots campaigning, at times involving relatively small numbers and is often denounced by ‘respectable’ opinion.”

Irish Times

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1. Introduction - Oisín Gilmore and David Landy
Part I: Campaigns
2. Anti-Austerity Struggles 2008-13 - by David Landy
3. Water Charges - by Dave Gibney
4. Abortion - by Aileen O’Carroll and Máire Ni Chuagáin
5. Housing - by Juliana Sassi, Seamus Farrell, Rosi Leonard and Aisling Hedderman
Part II: Organisations
6. Trade Unions - by Mary Muldowney
7. The Centre Left - by Paul Dillon
8. Anarchism - by Kevin Doyle
9. Trotskyism - by David Landy
10. Republicanism - by Dan Finn, Stewart Reddin and Damian Lawlor
11. Conclusion - by Oisín Gilmore

Published by Pluto Press in Jan 2025
Paperback ISBN: 9780745348759
eBook ISBN: 9780745348773

140mm x 216mm