Abstract
The Irish Journal of Sociology has grown in scope and depth attracting a strong submission flow from Ireland and abroad. Our mission to cultivate a generalist outlet inclusive of the diverse substantive and methodological approaches that define sociology is particularly reflected in the current issue.
Using data from the Irish Survey of Income and Living Conditions, in our first article, Amy Erbe Healy suggests that we think about social exclusion as an important dimension of food poverty. It is not just about not having enough food, but also about the social implications that come with it. We learn more about the households who are not officially classified as food poor.
In our second article, Christy Craig explores book clubs in Denver and Dublin and gives insights into how women cultivate reading habits and make it an important part of their identity. Using a narrative approach, this article also examines how social capital is gained through book club participation and how it transpires into tastes and cultural capital.
Our final article contribution, by Shane O’Mahony, traces how different stakeholders in Irish society have understood and responded to addiction over time. Contrasting a disease model of addiction with a model that accounts for political, economic and cultural embedment, it argues to take politics and ideology more seriously when talking about addiction.
This issue debates the Raj Patel and Jason Moore’s A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet. Two contributions by three authors, Kathleen Lynch, Mags Crean and Benjamin Anders are introduced in detail in this volume.
We are pleased to offer a book review by Marianne O’Kane Boal that considers the recent edited book Feeding children inside and outside the home: critical perspectives. Edited by Vicki Harman, Benedetta Cappellini and Charlotte Faircloth.
Finally, we welcome a reflection on the recent conference of the Sociological Association of Ireland (SAI) by the outgoing president, Lucy Michael. This conference was held at the National University of Ireland – Galway and brought together scholars from Sociology and across the social sciences.