An Irish Working Class

Among the topics essential for understanding the dynamics of capitalism, colonialism and state formation are the political economy and culture of those people who contributed their labour. In constructing the social history of workers in Thomastown, southeastern Ireland, An Irish Working Class is an important contribution to this endeavour and to Irish Studies, European historical ethnography, and the anthropology of working class life. Stemming from Silverman's 20-year academic involvement with Ireland (from which came a previous book, Merchants and Shopkeepers, co-written with colleague P.H Gulliver), the book combines data from archival research, interviews and participant observation to create a unique and eclectic study of labourers' lives between 1800 and 1950. Political anthropology, Gramscian approaches to hegemony, and the work of social historians on class experience all inform Silverman's perspective in this volume. Silverman explores the complex and changing consciousness, politics and social relations of those who were employed in the mills, tanneries, artisanal shops and retail outlets and on the landed estates, farms and public works projects which typified this highly differentiated locality. Using ethnographic research methods and offering direct quotation, combined with scrupulously analyzed data from local archives, the National Library and National Archives in Dublin, Silverman creates a unique and readable work for the scholarly - or lay - reader. In so doing, she shows how the focus on a particular locality is important for understanding global processes in both the past and present.