Orla O'Donovan – författare

The terms patriarchy, institutional racism, sustainable development and alienation may be familiar but this familiarity is often removed from the analytical contexts in which these ideas emerged. This book provides a series of rich reflections on the interaction between the radical ideas associated with these and other authors, and political action in Ireland.The classic texts that comprise the focal point for each chapter were selected by the contributors, many of whom straddle the boundaries of academia and activism. Each essay provides an account of the contributor’s personal encounters with the text, opens up the key mobilising ideas and considers how the text has the potential invigorate the political imagination of contemporary oppositional politics. This book will be of interest to students in the social sciences, especially sociology and Irish studies and will appeal to those interested or involved in political activism of any variety.

Central questions that are explored include: What are the implications for health of existing systems of pharmaceutical drug regulation? And, what do existing systems of drug regulation reveal the power of transnational pharmaceutical corporations to shape regulatory and other policies? The importance attached to considering the Irish regulatory system in its international context is reflected in the inclusion of chapters that address the implications of World Trade Organisation and EU regulatory policies and regulatory trends in Canada, Britain and Australia. By demonstrating how the analysis of pharmaceutical drug regulation can provide rich insights into the operation of power in contemporary society, this book challenges the prevailing construction of drug regulation as a sphere of 'policy without politics' and aims to contribute to the imagination of better ways of regulating medicines.