Amanda Slevin
Thesis Title: Hegemony and Hydrocarbons: Irish Policies, Gas and Oil
Supervisor: Dr Kieran Allen
Funding:
- Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (2009-2012).
- School of Sociology and the Graduate Research Innovation Fund, University College Dublin – funding for conferences 2010-2012.
- Centre for Development and the Environment (University of Oslo) – funded my participation in the ‘Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development’ module in the 2010 International Summer School, University of Oslo, Norway.
Biographical Note:
With a background in community development, youth work, and adult and community education I first became interested in the subject of Irish gas and oil following the 2005 jailing of the ‘Rossport Five’. These five men were jailed for 94 days as a result of their opposition to plans for a high pressure gas pipeline to be laid through their land, without their consent. As the controversy over the Corrib gas pipeline and terminal escalated, I became aware of the Irish state’s role in the conflict and this growing interest in issues surrounding Irish state hydrocarbon management culminated in my PhD research project which I began in September 2009.
My research examines how the Irish state manages its resources, why the state has adopted its particular approach, and it outlines some of the social, economic, environmental and political consequences as manifested in the Corrib gas project. Using mixed methods of data collection including documentary analysis, case studies, and interviews with 30 stakeholders (politicians, civil servants, representatives from the oil industry, media commentators, and activists) my research traces the development of the state’s approach, raising key questions around decision-making and policy formation in the Irish state. Attention is also paid to processes of consent-formation and coercion, state-corporate relations, and the uniqueness of the Irish state’s approach, particularly in comparison to other countries such as Norway.
Prior to my PhD I graduated from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth with a MA in Adult and Community Education (first class honours) and a HDip in Adult and Community Education (first class honours). I also hold a BA Hons in Community Development (first class honours) from Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
Presentations:
‘From protests to politics: A research project on Irish state hydrocarbon management,’ PhD Roundtable. UCD, September 26, 2012.
‘Irish State hydrocarbon management: Paradox of a neoliberal state?’ Sociological Association of Ireland, 39th Annual Conference. National University of Ireland Maynooth, 12-13 May 2012. Participation funded by the School of Sociology, UCD.
‘Power and Pipelines: Shell to Sea and the Irish State.’ People and Power, Annual Conference of the British Columbia Political Studies Association. Kelowna, Canada, 3-4 May 2012. Participation funded by the Graduate Research Innovation Fund and the School of Sociology, UCD.
Participant in The Frontline television programme special on Irish gas and oil. RTÉ, February 6, 2012.
Presentation to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture. Dáil Éireann, November 22, 2011.
‘Pipelines, Politics and Power: Shell to Sea and the Irish State’, New Agendas in Social Movement Studies. National University of Ireland Maynooth, November 26, 2011.
Panel member in The Great Natural Resources Debate. Kilkenny Arts Festival, Kilkenny Castle, August 10, 2011.
O’ Sullivan, S., Kelly, T., McMahon, L., Moore, G., Nithiam, D., Slevin, A., Surgenor, P. & Wixted, L. (2011). ‘Vocabularies of motive: students’ accounts of attendance and nonattendance at Sociology Seminars’, SociologicalAssociation of Ireland, 38th Annual Conference. University College Cork, 6-8 May.
‘Irish gas and oil: Panacea or problem?’ Democracy in Crisis seminar, Critical Issues in Irish Society Network. University College Dublin, April 15, 2011.
‘Hegemony and hydrocarbons: Irish policies, gas and oil’, 14th Annual Ken Saro Wiwa Memorial Seminar. Riverbank Hotel, Wexford, November 13, 2010.
‘State management of Irish gas and oil – accumulation by dispossession?’ PhD Roundtable. UCD, November 3, 2010.
‘Sustainable communities: responding to peak oil and climate change’, Growing Together seminar. Annagry Community Hall, Co. Donegal, September 17, 2010.
‘Hegemony and hydrocarbons’, Learning From Each Other’s Struggles social movements/ activist research workshop. National University of Ireland, Maynooth, June 19, 2010.
‘The Corrib gas project: A case of accumulation by dispossession?’ Sociological Association of Ireland, 37th Annual Conference. Queens University Belfast, 7-9 May 2010. Participation funded by the School of Sociology, UCD.
‘Hegemony and hydrocarbons: Irish policies, gas and oil’, PhD Roundtable. UCD, October 11, 2009.
Publications:
‘Rossport: From community action to movement for social change’. Working for Change: The Irish Journal of Community Work, December 2010 (2), pp. 126-147.
‘Civil disobedience, policing & the Corrib gas project.’ Guest post on the Human Rights in Ireland website. Published online http://www.humanrights.ie/index.php/2010/12/02/blog-carnival-civil-disobedience-policing-and-the-corrib-gasproject/ December, 2 2010.
‘Up here it’s different: Community Education in rural, East Donegal.’ The Adult Learner 2009, pp. 47-59.
Co-authored
Optimising Ireland’s oil and gas resources (June 2011). Report of the Oil and Gas Review Group. Dublin: SIPTU.
Awards Obtained:
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IRCHSS Post-graduate Scholarship (2009-2012)
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Scholarship from the University of Oslo (2010)
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MA in Adult and Community Education (2008)
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Bursary from NUIM (2007/2008)
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HDip in Adult and Community Education (2007)
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BA Hons in Community Development (2006)
Email: Amanda.Slevin@ucdconnect.ie
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