Health Care and Neoliberalism in Ireland: Examining Irish Health Care using a Foucauldian Genealogy

Time: 12-1pm PST

Description: This research traced the genealogical origins in the history of Irish health care that have resulted in contemporary conditions of inequality. The research revealed the challenge to solidarity in the context of an increasingly individualistic field, as well as the ongoing reneging of the social contract through the corruption of the gift relationship. The health of a nation tells much about the nature of a social contract between citizen and state. The way that health care is organised, and the degree to which it is equitably accessible, constitutes a manifestation of the effects of moments and events in that country's history.  Using four illustrative case studies, this research used a historical genealogical approach to understand the evolution of Ireland's particular version of health care provision. Through the analysis of these cases, the complex matrix of the influential forces that have shaped current conditions were exposed and revealed, enabling a critical understanding of the extent of acquiescence to the inequitable system that arguably exists.

Bio: Dr. Angela Flynn is a Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery in University College Cork, Ireland, where she is Director of Undergraduate Education. Her background was originally within Cardiothoracic and Intensive Care Nursing where she saw first-hand the impact of Ireland’s deeply inequitable health care system. She has completed research on problem based learning and simulation in nurse education, as well as on Quality of Life in cardiac surgical patients. She completed her PhD in Social Science with a thesis that examined Ireland’s health care system using a historical Foucauldian genealogy, and through a particular social theoretical lens. She has a particular interest in the establishment of social justice as a core nursing value and in pedagogical approaches to cultural safety in nurse education.

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