Social Cohesion in a time of Pandemic
Social Cohesion in a time of Pandemic
Wednesday 25th November 2020, 5:30pm to 7:00pm
Location: Online, on Zoom
Our speakers were Pete Lunn (ESRI) and Tony Fahey (UCD). Watch back here:
Pete's paper is entitled All in this together.
At the beginning of the present pandemic, Pete was appointed to the Behavioural Change Subgroup of NPHET. His team have conducted multiple behavioural studies over the past six months designed to improve public communication about the virus and to support compliance with public health guidance.
Tony's presentation poses the question Is Ireland exceptionally cohesive?
Most of the main symptoms of political polarisation that have caused concern in many countries in the rich world in recent years are not present in Ireland. There is little or no organised anti-emigrant sentiment in politics, no right-wing religious extremism, no enduring political cleavages on 'moral' issues, and no anti-EU or anti-globalisation protest. Economic inequalities are present but the rise in income inequality found in many countries is absent and the sharp improvement in living standards that have occurred over the past two decades has been widely shared. Other softer indicators of social cohesion are more mixed. This talk considers these patterns and reflects on what they tell us about the level and nature of social cohesion in Ireland today.
Speaker bios