How can we understand the moral transformation which Ireland has undergone, culminating in the introduction of equal marriage for same-sex couples in 2015, and the ending of the notorious abortion ban in 2018? A society whose institutions and attitudes throughout much of the twentieth century had idealised and ruthlessly defended patriarchal family relations seemed to have disappeared, replaced by a new world of equality and liberty. This volume examines the major social dramas driving this change, focused on gender, sexuality, reproductive capacity, motherhood, and family life. Arguing that moral orientations have tended to be shaped by a familial social imaginary throughout the state's history, the book explores how solidarity has been remade in a newly pluralised and democratic moral landscape.

Autorentext

Lisa Smyth is Professor of Sociology at Queen's University Belfast, working on norms and social change, particularly in relation to gender equality and family life. She is author of The Demands of Motherhood: Agents Roles and Recognition (2012), and Abortion and Nation: The Politics of Reproduction in Contemporary Ireland (2016/2005). She was co-Chief Editor of the I rish Journal of Sociology (Nov. 2020Nov. 2023), and currently serves as President of the Sociological Association of Ireland (2025-2027)