Dr Eoin Flaherty

    Sociology

    Lecturer / Assistant Professor

    Auxilia House

    Biography

    Before arriving at Maynooth, I spent two years as Lecturer in Sociology at Queen's University Belfast, and two years as Assistant Professor in Sociology at University College Dublin. I am interested in some basic questions of collective behavior: how are patterns of inequality formed and maintained, and how do they change over time? I study these processes over time and space, with a particular focus on income inequality during the late 20th/early 21st century, and instances of famine during the 19th century (mainly Ireland for now). I am also interested in how human societies have formed systems of cooperation and managed resources collectively, and whether such systems were more resilient to environmental stress.

    Recent published work available here:
    Flaherty, E. 2021. 'Common-pool resource governance and uneven food security: Regional resilience during the Great Irish Famine, 1845–1852.' Journal of Agrarian Change 21(2): 285-312.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12396
    Flaherty, E. and Ó Riain, S. 2020. 'Labour’s declining share of national income in Ireland and Denmark: the national specificities of structural change.' Socio-Economic Review 18(4): 1039-1064.
    https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwy047
    Flaherty, E. 2019. Complexity Theory and the Social Sciences. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
    https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057%2F978-1-137-54978-5
    Flaherty, E. 2019. 'Varieties of Regulation and Financialization: Comparative Pathways to Top Income Inequality in the OECD, 1975–2005.' Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 21: 90-115.

    Research Interests

    My specific research interests include:

    • Top income inequality, labour's share of national income, time series and pooled time series cross-section analysis, rentier incomes.
    • Financialisation, social structures of accumulation, power resources. 
    • Famine, common-pool resource systems, primitive communism, nineteenth-century Ireland.
    • Marxist social theory (with a special interest in ecology), and the history of Marxist thought
    • Complexity theory, human ecology, environmental sociology. 

    Research Projects

      Project Role Funding Body / Program Description Start Date End Date Award (€)
    Re-House that Data: Building Data and Communication Skills for Social Change Co-PI National University of Ireland, Maynooth / Government State Bodies 01-FEB-21 14-MAY-21 3000
    ESRC Festival of Social Science Co-PI / Government State Bodies 12-JUN-15 10-JUN-16 2400
    The historical dynamics of labour’s share of national income in Ireland and Denmark PI Irish Research Council (IRC) / Government State Bodies 07-OCT-13 30-MAR-14 71000
    Environmental Developments as Complex Entities PI Irish Research Council (IRC) / Government State Bodies 17-SEP-07 17-SEP-10 63000

    Books

      Year Publication
    2019 Complexity and Resilience in the Social and Ecological Sciences.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2019) Complexity and Resilience in the Social and Ecological Sciences. London: Palgrave Macmillan. [DOI] [Details]

    Edited Books

      Year Publication
    2015 The Changing Worlds and Workplaces of Capitalism
    Ó Riain, Seán., Behling, Felix., Ciccia, Rossella., Flaherty, Eoin (Ed.). (2015) The Changing Worlds and Workplaces of Capitalism London: Palgrave. [Details]

    Peer Reviewed Journals

      Year Publication
    2021 'Common-pool resource governance and uneven food security: Regional resilience during the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1852'
    Flaherty, E (2021) 'Common-pool resource governance and uneven food security: Regional resilience during the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1852'. Journal of Agrarian Change, 21 (2):285-312 [DOI] [Details]
    2020 'Labour's declining share of national income in Ireland and Denmark: the national specificities of structural change'
    Flaherty, Eoin and Ó Riain, Seán (2020) 'Labour's declining share of national income in Ireland and Denmark: the national specificities of structural change'. Socio-Economic Review, 18 (4):1001-1038 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2019 'Varieties of Regulation and Financialization: Comparative Pathways to Top Income Inequality in the OECD, 1975–2005'
    Flaherty, Eoin (2019) 'Varieties of Regulation and Financialization: Comparative Pathways to Top Income Inequality in the OECD, 1975–2005'. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 21 (1):90-115 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2016 'Rundale and 19th Century Irish Settlement: System, Space, and Genealogy'
    Flaherty, Eoin (2016) 'Rundale and 19th Century Irish Settlement: System, Space, and Genealogy'. Irish Geography, 48 (2):3-38 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2015 'Top incomes under finance-driven capitalism, 1990-2010: power resources and regulatory orders'
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) 'Top incomes under finance-driven capitalism, 1990-2010: power resources and regulatory orders'. Socio-Economic Review, 13 (3):417-447 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2015 'A statistical and documentary primer on rundale in Ireland'
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) 'A statistical and documentary primer on rundale in Ireland'. Ulster Folklife, 58 :22-32 [full-text] [Details]
    2014 'Assessing the distribution of social-ecological resilience and risk: Ireland as a case study of the uneven impact of famine'
    Flaherty, Eoin (2014) 'Assessing the distribution of social-ecological resilience and risk: Ireland as a case study of the uneven impact of famine'. Ecological Complexity, 19 (9):35-45 [DOI] [Details]
    2014 'Income inequality from 1960-2012: a brief time-series history of capital and labour'
    Flaherty, Eoin (2014) 'Income inequality from 1960-2012: a brief time-series history of capital and labour'. Irish Journal of Sociology, 22 (1):88-101 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2013 'Geographies of communality, colonialism, and capitalism: ecology and the world system'
    Flaherty, Eoin (2013) 'Geographies of communality, colonialism, and capitalism: ecology and the world system'. Historical Geography, 41 :59-79 [full-text] [Details]
    2009 ''Marx on primitive communism: The Irish rundale agrarian commune, its internal dynamics, and metabolic rift'
    Slater, Eamonn., and Flaherty, Eoin (2009) ''Marx on primitive communism: The Irish rundale agrarian commune, its internal dynamics, and metabolic rift'. Irish Journal of Anthropology, 12 (2):5-34 [full-text] [Details]

    Book Chapters

      Year Publication
    2021 'Class and Inequality in Northern Ireland'
    Flaherty, Eoin and McAuley, Martina (2021) 'Class and Inequality in Northern Ireland' In: Boucher, Gerard., and Watson, Iarfhlaith (eds). Contemporary Ireland and Northern Ireland. Dublin: UCD Press. [Details]
    2018 'Complex Inequalities in the Age of Financialisation: Piketty, Marx, and Class-Biased Power Resources'
    Flaherty, Eoin (2018) 'Complex Inequalities in the Age of Financialisation: Piketty, Marx, and Class-Biased Power Resources' In: Langman, Lauren., and Smith, David A (eds). Twenty-First Century Inequality & Capitalism: Piketty, Marx and Beyond. Leiden: Brill. [Details]
    2015 'The variety of Polanyian double movements in Europe¿s capitalisms'
    Flaherty, Eoin., and Ó Riain, Seán (2015) 'The variety of Polanyian double movements in Europe¿s capitalisms' In: Ó Riain, Seán., Behling, Felix., Ciccia, Rossella., and Flaherty, Eoin (eds). The changing worlds and workplaces of capitalism. London: Palgrave Macmillan. [DOI] [Details]
    2015 'Changing workplaces, changing capitalisms'
    Ó Riain, Seán., Behling, Felix., Ciccia, Rossella., and Flaherty, Eoin (2015) 'Changing workplaces, changing capitalisms' In: Ó Riain, Seán., Behling, Felix., Ciccia, Rossella., and Flaherty, Eoin (eds). The changing worlds and workplaces of capitalism. London: Palgrave Macmillan. [DOI] [Details]
    2015 'Integrating Work and Political Economy'
    Ó Riain, Seán., Behling, Felix., Ciccia, Rossella., and Flaherty, Eoin (2015) 'Integrating Work and Political Economy' In: Ó Riain, Seán., Behling, Felix., Ciccia, Rossella., and Flaherty, Eoin (eds). The changing worlds and workplaces of capitalism. London: Palgrave Macmillan. [DOI] [Details]
    2010 'Landscapes of recession in contemporary Ireland'
    Bendon, Mary., and Flaherty, Eoin (2010) 'Landscapes of recession in contemporary Ireland' In: Ireland of the illusions: a sociological chronicle. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration. [Details]

    Other Journals

      Year Publication
    2018 'Doing Time Series Analyses of Income Inequality–Pooled or Comparative?'
    Flaherty, Eoin (2018) 'Doing Time Series Analyses of Income Inequality–Pooled or Comparative?' Sage Research Methods Cases, . [DOI] [Details]
    2016 'Northern Ireland's Economy Post-Brexit: Is North-South Reunification the Answer?'
    Flaherty, Eoin (2016) 'Northern Ireland's Economy Post-Brexit: Is North-South Reunification the Answer?' Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics: Brexit Special (Online), . [Details]

    Working Paper

      Year Publication
    2020 “…til debt do us part…?” Unsecured Debt, Over-indebtedness, and Crisis in the Age of Financialisation.
    McAuley, Martina and Flaherty, Eoin (2020) “…til debt do us part…?” Unsecured Debt, Over-indebtedness, and Crisis in the Age of Financialisation. Maynooth University: Working Paper [Details]
    2020 Class and Inequality in Northern Ireland.
    Flaherty, Eoin and McAuley, Martina (2020) Class and Inequality in Northern Ireland. Maynooth University: Working Paper [Details]
    2019 Regional resilience during the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1852: the role of common tenancy in spatial inequalities of food security.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2019) Regional resilience during the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1852: the role of common tenancy in spatial inequalities of food security. Maynooth: Working Paper [Details]

    Media

      Year Publication
    2018 What will happen to Ireland's abortion rate after repeal?.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2018) What will happen to Ireland's abortion rate after repeal?. London: Media [Details]
    2016 Four simple steps the UK government follows to make you really, really rich.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Four simple steps the UK government follows to make you really, really rich. Media [Details]
    2016 Was there ever a time when so few people controlled so much wealth?.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Was there ever a time when so few people controlled so much wealth?. Media [Details]
    2015 Response to 'Fact check: Are those with the broadest shoulders bearing the greatest burden?'.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Response to 'Fact check: Are those with the broadest shoulders bearing the greatest burden?'. Media [Details]
    2015 Free from the confines of coalition, Osbourne goes on benefits rampage.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Free from the confines of coalition, Osbourne goes on benefits rampage. Media [Details]
    2015 Budget 2016: experts respond.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Budget 2016: experts respond. Media [Details]

    Book Review

      Year Publication
    2015 Brunsdon and Comber's 'An Introduction to R for Spatial Analysis and Mapping' (with notes on making the big switch).
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Brunsdon and Comber's 'An Introduction to R for Spatial Analysis and Mapping' (with notes on making the big switch). Book Review [Details]
    2014 Derek Wall: The Sustainable Economics of Elinor Ostrom: Commons, Contestation and Craft.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2014) Derek Wall: The Sustainable Economics of Elinor Ostrom: Commons, Contestation and Craft. Book Review [DOI] [Details]
    2013 Social Measurement Through Social Surveys, An Applied Approach.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2013) Social Measurement Through Social Surveys, An Applied Approach. Ireland: Book Review [DOI] [Details]

    Conference Contributions

      Year Publication
    2019 Metabolic Rift and Climate Change: An Empirical Test and Specification.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2019) Metabolic Rift and Climate Change: An Empirical Test and Specification. [Oral Presentation], 16th Annual Historical Materialism Conference, SOAS London , 07-NOV-19 - 09-NOV-19 [Details]
    2019 Social Class in Northern Ireland, in Theory & Data.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2019) Social Class in Northern Ireland, in Theory & Data. [Invited Lecture], Nevin Economic Research Institute Seminar Series, INTO Offices, Belfast , 13-JUN-19 [Details]
    2018 Contesting Inequalities.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2018) Contesting Inequalities. [Oral Presentation], Complex Inequalities and Class Analysis: Toward a Two-Class Model of Capital and Labour, Queen's University Belfast , 14-SEP-18 - 14-SEP-18 [Details]
    2018 Sociological Association of Ireland Annual Conference.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2018) Sociological Association of Ireland Annual Conference. [Oral Presentation], How do countries financialise? Different historical pathways to top income inequality, Dublin Institute of Technology , 18-MAY-18 - 19-MAY-18 [Details]
    2018 The ReBirth of Marxism: Haunting the Future.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2018) The ReBirth of Marxism: Haunting the Future. [Oral Presentation], Capital, labour, and inequality: why a two-class model fits, Maynooth University , 04-MAY-18 - 05-MAY-18 [Details]
    2017 Rundale in Ireland and beyond.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2017) Rundale in Ireland and beyond. [Oral Presentation], A century of rundale scholarship: competing frameworks, concepts, and explanations, Queen's University Belfast , 26-MAY-17 - 27-MAY-17 [Details]
    2017 After the future of work.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2017) After the future of work. [Oral Presentation], Income inequality and the future of unionisation, Robert Emmett Community Development Project , 25-AUG-17 - 25-AUG-17 [Details]
    2017 Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network Annual Meeting.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2017) Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network Annual Meeting. [Oral Presentation], Discussant for S. Doebler, 'Access to a car and experiences of loneliness among older Europeans in rural areas', Aberystwyth University , 30-MAY-17 - 01-JUN-17 [Details]
    2016 Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network Annual Meeting.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network Annual Meeting. [Oral Presentation], Common-pool resource governance and uneven food security: A geographical model of resilience during the Great Irish Famine, Queen's University Belfast , 12-MAY-16 - 12-MAY-16 [Details]
    2016 Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Meeting.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Meeting. [Oral Presentation], Inequality and the institutional evolution of financialisation, University of California, Berkeley , 23-JUN-16 - 25-JUN-16 [Details]
    2016 Graduate School in Quantitative Methods.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Graduate School in Quantitative Methods. [Invited Lecture], Introduction to Geographical Information Systems and Geostatistics, University of Limerick , 21-JAN-16 - 22-JAN-16 [Details]
    2016 Institute for Analytical Sociology Seminar Series.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Institute for Analytical Sociology Seminar Series. [Invited Lecture], Complexity science and income inequality, Linkoping University , 11-APR-16 - 11-APR-16 [Details]
    2015 Graduate School in Quantitative Methods.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Graduate School in Quantitative Methods. [Invited Lecture], Theorising and modelling inequality and social change, University of Limerick , 23-JAN-15 - 23-JAN-15 [Details]
    2015 Conference of Irish Geographers.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Conference of Irish Geographers. [Oral Presentation], Spatial autocorrelation of contextual factors, and the geography of famine distress: the role of common-pool resource governance, Queen's University Belfast , 21-MAY-15 - 21-MAY-15 [Details]
    2015 Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Meeting.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Meeting. [Oral Presentation], Asymmetric bargaining and top incomes under finance-driven capitalism, London School of Economics , 02-JUL-15 - 02-JUL-15 [Details]
    2015 British Society for Population Studies.
    Flaherty, Eoin., and McNamee, Cate (2015) British Society for Population Studies. [Poster Presentation], Family and the Commons: An Historical Demography and Household Composition Analysis of Pre-Famine Ireland, University of Leeds , 07-SEP-15 - 08-SEP-15 [Details]
    2015 Department of Sociology Seminar Series.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Department of Sociology Seminar Series. [Invited Lecture], Resilience, systems theory, and method in environmental sociology, Maynooth University , 08-DEC-15 - 08-DEC-15 [Details]
    2015 Conference of Irish Geographers.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Conference of Irish Geographers. [Oral Presentation], Top incomes under finance-drive capitalism, 1990-2010, Queen's University Belfast , 21-MAY-15 - 21-MAY-15 [Details]
    2013 Futures of the Welfare State.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2013) Futures of the Welfare State. [Oral Presentation], Labour's share of national income: assessing the paradigmatic models of comparative political economy, Umea University , 15-MAY-13 - 15-MAY-13 [Details]
    2013 Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Meeting.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2013) Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Meeting. [Oral Presentation], The historical dynamics of labour's share of national income amongst the small open economies of Europe, University of Milan , 27-JUN-13 - 27-JUN-13 [Details]
    2013 Economic and Social History Society of Ireland Annual Conference.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2013) Economic and Social History Society of Ireland Annual Conference. [Oral Presentation], Social-ecological resilience, the rundale system, and the great Irish famine, NUI Galways , 22-NOV-13 - 22-NOV-13 [Details]
    2013 Understanding the changing worlds of capitalism.
    Flaherty, Eoin., and Ó Riain, Seán (2013) Understanding the changing worlds of capitalism. [Oral Presentation], Labour and the variety of Polanyian double movements in Europe's capitalisms, Maynooth University , 01-MAY-13 - 01-MAY-13 [Details]
    2013 The commons: in what state?.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2013) The commons: in what state?. [Oral Presentation], Assessing the historical sustainability of the commons: Ireland and beyond, University of Manchester , 20-JUN-13 - 20-JUN-13 [Details]
    2011 Annual Conference of the Social History Society.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2011) Annual Conference of the Social History Society. [Oral Presentation], Marx's later writings on Ireland and pre-capitalism, University of Manchester , 12-APR-11 - 12-APR-11 [Details]
    2010 Historical Materialism.
    Flaherty, Eoin (2010) Historical Materialism. [Oral Presentation], Contributions of Irish Agricultural History to Historical Materialism, SOAS University of London , 11-NOV-10 - 11-NOV-10 [Details]

    Honours and Awards

      Year Title Awarding Body
    2020 Early Career Faculty of Social Science Research Achievement Award Maynooth University
    2016 Honorary Research Fellow Queen's University Belfast

    Professional Associations

      Association Function From / To
    Sociological Association of Ireland Membership Secretary 17-MAY-18 /
    Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Member 01-MAY-13 /
    Agricultural History Society of Ireland Secretary 03-MAY-10 / 02-JUN-14

    Employment

      Employer Position From / To
    Queen's University Belfast Lecturer 01-APR-14 / 31-AUG-16
    University College Dublin Assistant Professor 05-SEP-16 / 28-SEP-18
    Dublin City University Assistant Lecturer 08-SEP-08 / 18-DEC-09

    Education

      Year Institution Qualification Subject
    2015 Queen's University Belfast Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching Education
    2007 Maynooth University B.A. Sociology and Geography
    2013 Maynooth University PhD Sociology

    Languages

      Language Reading Writing Speaking
    Gaelige Functional Functional Functional

    Reviews

      Journal Role
    Ecological Complexity Referee
    Journal Of Human Ecology Referee
    Irish Journal Of Sociology Referee
    Theory, Culture And Society Referee
    Irish Geography Referee
    Socio-Economic Review Referee
    International Journal Of Comparative Sociology Referee

    Teaching Interests

    Human ecology and environmental sociology
    Marxian social theory
    Historical sociology
    Famines and food security
    Income inequality
    Political economy
    Quantitative research methods
    Time series and panel models

    Internal Collaborators

      Name Institute Country
    Seán Ó Riain Maynooth University IRELAND
    Eamonn Slater Maynooth University IRELAND

    External Collaborators

      Name Role / Description Country
    Elizabeth Farries Co-author IRELAND
    Tristan Sturm Co-author UNITED KINGDOM