Research Profile

Kieran Keohane

Biography

Sociological analysis in the interpretive tradition; classical and contemporary social theory and methodology; phenomenonolgy; hermeneutics; ethnography, psychoanalysis; sociological-philosophical affinities in literature and poetics; confluences between critical theory and poststructuralism; the conditions of postmodernity; cultural and political anthropology; cities and forms of urban life; identity, difference and social antagonism; memory, fantasy, collective representations, the symbolic order.

Current work:

  • Social pathologies of contemporary civilization; effects of anomie and liminality on health, well-being and human flourishing; the symbolic disorders and socio-psychopathologies associated with accelerated modernization, globalization and risk; namely: ennui, anomie, melancholia, affective disorders, psychoses, and the hysterical conditions of the Twenty-first century. As a consequence of this interpretive work, I am interested in epidemology, public health and social policy.

  • The sociology of environment and human ecology; planning, development, underdevelopment and  sustainable development; housing, dwelling, architecture & design; the symbolic order and imaginative structure of the house and home; the anthropologically deep-seated relationship between house, home and civilization, and between architecture, mind, and the formation of subjectivity, informed by Weber, Heidegger, Foucault, etc.
  • Rural, urban and suburban forms of life, and the liminal zones at their interfaces; The city and urban culture, informed primarily by Simmel, Benjamin and Joyce; the generation and legacy of cultural capital in Europe's 'cultural capitals'; the libidinal economy of the city; desire, artifice, and presentation of self; the child in the city, moral education and the cultivation of cosmopolitanism; the sociology of money and global financial markets..
  • The sociology of formal organizations, management theory and practice; marketing & advertizing; the sociology of money & global financial markets.
  • Education: moral education and the cultivation of cosmopolitanism; creative education, in the arts, literature, music; mythologies, fairytales, fantasy; children’s culture, play.

Research Interests

Director, graduate programme in Health, Civilization & Sustainable Development, UCC; co-founder & board member MPlan (Planning & Sustainable Development) UCC;- External Examiner, MA program in Sociology, Anthropology & Social Policy, Glasgow University; External Examiner, Anthropology, DBS. 2003-'05; Editorial Reviewer for intnl jnls: Theory, Culture & Society; Social Movement Studies; Space and Culture; Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology; Research Proposal Reviewer, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) 1996 -1999. PhD's completed: Dr S. Malesevic (2000) "Democracy, Legitimacy and the New State: Political Culture in the Former Yugoslavia" (currently Lecturer, Politics & Sociology, NUIG; Dr D. Gresisshaber (1998) "Representations of Africa in Ireland" (currently Public Relations consultant, Hamburg. PhD's in progress: O'Brien "Civilization and Intoxication" (Defending 2007; P. Kearney "Transformative Experiences and Quality of Life"; J. McNamera "American Nationalism"; B. O'Sullivan "Planning and sustainable development in the countryside" MA's:I have supervised over 25 MA dissertations. Former MA students are presently Doctoral candidates elsewhere, at Cambridge, at York and UBC Canada, at Emory, USA, and Steigen, Germany.


Identify your top three research outputs (for the review period Jan 03 - Sept 08) and describe their significance (1 page maximum).

Top three research outputs are two books (co-authored with Carmen Kuhling) entitled Collision Culture: Transformations of Everyday Life in Ireland (2004) and Cosmopolitan Ireland: Globalization and Quality of Life (2007) and more recently the article "Obesity, insatiability and the mutation of the symbolic order of the meal", in International Political Anthropology (2008).

The first two books are required reading for courses, usually a number of courses, across practically all social science departments in Irish third level institutions. The books offer sociological, cultural and political-economic critical interpretations of contemporary Irish society. They are cited frequently in current Irish social science and inter-disciplinary research, in the press and mass media, and increasingly are finding an audience in the UK, the USA and Canada, and they have been sought out by academics in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, France, Italy, Japan and most recently Iran. Both books have to date sold over 2,000 copies each. The article on obesity, published in October 2008, has so far been the subject of over 1,000 searches.


Publications

Books

 YearPublication
(2014)The Political, Domestic and Moral Economies of post Celtic Tiger Ireland.
K. Keohane & C. Kuhling (2014) The Political, Domestic and Moral Economies of post Celtic Tiger Ireland. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details]
(2007)Cosmopolitan Ireland: Globalization and Quality of Life.
Keohane, K & Kuhling, C.; (2007) Cosmopolitan Ireland: Globalization and Quality of Life. : Pluto Press. [Details]
(2004)Collision Culture: Transformations in Everyday Life in Ireland.
Keohane K and Kuhling, C; (2004) Collision Culture: Transformations in Everyday Life in Ireland. : Liffey Press. [Details]
(2014)Creative Methodologies.
K. Keohane, M. Hivid-Jacobsen, M. Drake and A. Petersen (eds) (2014) Creative Methodologies. London: Ashgate. [Details]
(2013)The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization.
K. Keohane & A. Petersen (eds) (2013) The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization. London: Ashgate. [Details]
(2011)Organization in Play.
Kavanagh, D., Keohane, K., Kuhling, C.; (2011) Organization in Play. Witney, UK: Peter Lang.   [Details]
(2011)Irish Enviornmental Politics after the Communicative Turn.
O'Mahony, P. & Keohane, K. (eds); (2011) Irish Enviornmental Politics after the Communicative Turn. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details]
(2007)Cosmopolitan Ireland: Globalization and Quality of Life London.
Kuhling, C., Keohane, K.; (2007) Cosmopolitan Ireland: Globalization and Quality of Life London. London: Pluto. [Details]
(2004)Collision Culture: Transformations in Everyday Life in Ireland Dublin.
Kuhling, C., Keohane, K.; (2004) Collision Culture: Transformations in Everyday Life in Ireland Dublin. Dublin: The Liffey Press. [Details]
(1997)Symptoms of Canada: An Essay on the Canadian Identity Toronto:.
n/a; (1997) Symptoms of Canada: An Essay on the Canadian Identity Toronto:. Toronto, UK: University of Toronto Press. [Details]

Book Chapters

 YearPublication
(2011)'Sustainability and community: the un-sustainability of the social model of neo-liberal globalization and the speechlessness of the community at the periphery'
Kieran Keohane Carmen Kuhling (2011) 'Sustainability and community: the un-sustainability of the social model of neo-liberal globalization and the speechlessness of the community at the periphery' In: Sustainable Politics and the Crisis of the Peripheries: Ireland and Greece. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group.   [DOI] [Details]
(2005)'Living in the City: Ideals and Practices'
Keohane, K. & O'Connell, C.; (2005) 'Living in the City: Ideals and Practices' In: An Atlas of Cork. [Details]
(2004)'Irish consumerism as collective gift relations'
Keohane, K. (With Kuhling, C.); (2004) 'Irish consumerism as collective gift relations' In: Irish Sociological Chronicles, vol.4. [Details]
(2003)'Millenarianism and Utopianism in the New Ireland: the Tragedy (and Comedy) of Accelerated Modernization'
Keohane, K. (with Kuhling, C); (2003) 'Millenarianism and Utopianism in the New Ireland: the Tragedy (and Comedy) of Accelerated Modernization' In: The End of Irish History?. [Details]
(2002)'Understanding Irish Suicides'
Keohane, K. (with Chambers, D); (2002) 'Understanding Irish Suicides' In: Ireland Unbound. [Details]
(2001)'Reading Star Trek: imagining, theorizing and reflecting on organizational discourse and practice!'
Keohane, K. (with Kavanagh, D. & Kuhling, C.); (2001) 'Reading Star Trek: imagining, theorizing and reflecting on organizational discourse and practice!' In: Science Fiction and Organization. [Details]
(2004)'The Odyssey of Instrumental Rationality'
C. Kuhling & D. Kavanagh; (2004) 'The Odyssey of Instrumental Rationality' In: Thinking Organizations London. London, UK: Routledge. [Details]
(2004)'Irish consumerism as collective gift relations'
Keohane, K., Kuhling, C; (2004) 'Irish consumerism as collective gift relations' In: Irish Sociological Chronicles. n/a: n/a. [Details]
(2003)'Millenarianism and Utopianism in the New Ireland: the Tragedy (and Comedy) of Accelerated Modernization'
C. Kuhling, K.Keohane; (2003) 'Millenarianism and Utopianism in the New Ireland: the Tragedy (and Comedy) of Accelerated Modernization' In: in The End of Irish History?. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details]
(2002)'Understanding Irish Suicides'
D. Chambers, K.Keohane; (2002) 'Understanding Irish Suicides' In: in Ireland Unbound. Dublin: IPA Press. [Details]
(2002)'Celebrity: Case studies in the localization of the global'
C. Kuhling, K.Keohane; (2002) 'Celebrity: Case studies in the localization of the global' In: Ireland Unbound. Dublin: IPA Press. [Details]
(2002)'City Life and the Conditions of Possibility of the Ideology-proof Subject'
n/a; (2002) 'City Life and the Conditions of Possibility of the Ideology-proof Subject' In: Ideology after Poststructuralism. London: Pluto. [Details]
(2001)'Reading Star Trek: imagining, theorizing and reflecting on organizational discourse and practice'
Keohane, K., Kavanagh, D & Kuhling, C; (2001) 'Reading Star Trek: imagining, theorizing and reflecting on organizational discourse and practice' In: Science Fiction and Organization. London: Routledge. [Details]
(1997)'Traditionalism and transcendental homelessness in contemporary Irish music'
Keohane, K; (1997) 'Traditionalism and transcendental homelessness in contemporary Irish music' In: Location and Dislocation. Cork: Cork University Press, and University of Notre Dame press. [Details]
(1996)'Contested Boundaries/Different Sociologies'
Keohane, K; (1996) 'Contested Boundaries/Different Sociologies' In: Explorations in the Canadian Erotic Imaginary. York: York University Press. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

 YearPublication
(2011)'On the Political in the Wake: Carl Schmitt’s and James Joyce’s Political Theologies”'
Kieran Keohane (2011) 'On the Political in the Wake: Carl Schmitt’s and James Joyce’s Political Theologies”'. Cultural Politics, 7 (2):249-264   [DOI] [Details]
(2010)'The darkness drops again: a recurrence of the Tain foretold in the 'Corrib Gas Giveaway''
Kieran Keohane and Carmen Kuhling (2010) 'The darkness drops again: a recurrence of the Tain foretold in the 'Corrib Gas Giveaway''. Irish Journal of Sociology, 18 (2):107-125   [DOI] [Details]
(2010)'Health, social inequality and taxation: how Ireland's schizmogenic social model undermines the well-being of the European body politic'
Keohane, Kieran; Kuhling, Carmen; (2010) 'Health, social inequality and taxation: how Ireland's schizmogenic social model undermines the well-being of the European body politic'. Irish Journal of Sociology, 17 (1):1-23 [Details]
(2009)'Haunted houses and liminality: from the deserted homes of the faithful departed to the social desert of schizmogenesis'
Kieran Keohane; (2009) 'Haunted houses and liminality: from the deserted homes of the faithful departed to the social desert of schizmogenesis'. International Political Anthropology, 2 (1):27-48 [Details]
(2008)'The best of times and the worst of times'
Best of Times and Worst of Times; (2008) 'The best of times and the worst of times'. The Irish Review, 38 (Spring 2008):118-122 [Details]
(2007)'Moral Education and Cosmopolitanism: Meeting Kant and Durkheim in Joyce¿'
Keohane, K; (2007) 'Moral Education and Cosmopolitanism: Meeting Kant and Durkheim in Joyce¿'. Journal of Classical Sociology, [Details]
(2005)'Trickster¿s metempsychosis in the mythic age of globalization: the recurrence of the Leprechaun in Irish political culture'
Keohane, K; (2005) 'Trickster¿s metempsychosis in the mythic age of globalization: the recurrence of the Leprechaun in Irish political culture'. Cultural Politics, 2 (1) [Details]
(2004)'Speech and silence: Instantiations and Articulations'
Keohane, K; (2004) 'Speech and silence: Instantiations and Articulations'. Ephemera: Critical Dialogues on Organizations, 3 (4):283-299 [Details]
(2003)'Collision Culture: Road Traffic Accidents and the Experience of Accelerated Modernization in Ireland'
Keohane. K., Kuhling, C and M. Horgan; (2003) 'Collision Culture: Road Traffic Accidents and the Experience of Accelerated Modernization in Ireland'. Irish Journal of Sociology, 12 (1) [Details]
(2002)'The Revitalization of Dublin and the Demise of Joyce¿s Utopian Modern Subject'
n/a; (2002) 'The Revitalization of Dublin and the Demise of Joyce¿s Utopian Modern Subject'. Theory, Culture & Society, 19 (3) [Details]
(2002)'Model Homes for Model Citizens: Domestic and Libidinal Economies in Prosperity Square'
Keohane, K.; (2002) 'Model Homes for Model Citizens: Domestic and Libidinal Economies in Prosperity Square'. Theory, Culture & Society, 19 (3) [Details]
(2000)'Model Homes for Model Citizens: Domestic and Libidinal Economies in Prosperity Square'
Keohane K., Kuhling, C.; (2000) 'Model Homes for Model Citizens: Domestic and Libidinal Economies in Prosperity Square'. Space and Culture, 6 (1) [Details]
(2000)'Ioan Davies: Cosmopolitan Sociological Flaneur'
Keohane, K,. Kuhling, C.; (2000) 'Ioan Davies: Cosmopolitan Sociological Flaneur'. Space and Culture, 6 (1) [Details]
(1999)'Re-membering the European citizen: the social construction of collective memory in Weimar'
Keohane, K; (1999) 'Re-membering the European citizen: the social construction of collective memory in Weimar'. Journal of Political Ideologies, 4 (1) [Details]
(1999)'Shifts in Cannadian Immigration Policy'
Keohhane, K., Simmons, Alan B; (1999) 'Shifts in Cannadian Immigration Policy'. CERLAC (Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, York University) Occasional Manuscripts Series, [Details]
(1999)'Reflexive modernization and systematically distorted communications: a case study of the Environmental Protection Agency oral hearings'
Keohane, K.; (1999) 'Reflexive modernization and systematically distorted communications: a case study of the Environmental Protection Agency oral hearings'. Irish Journal of Sociology, [Details]
(1993)'Central problems in the philosophy of the social sciences after postmodernism: reconciling consensus and hegemonic theories of epistemology and political ethics'
Keohane, K.; (1993) 'Central problems in the philosophy of the social sciences after postmodernism: reconciling consensus and hegemonic theories of epistemology and political ethics'. Philosophy and Social Criticism, 19 (2) [Details]
(1992)'Canadian immigration policy: state strategies and the quest for legitimacy'
Alan B. Simmons and Kieran Keohane; (1992) 'Canadian immigration policy: state strategies and the quest for legitimacy'. Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 29 (4) [Details]
(1992)'Symptoms of Canada'
Keohane, K.; (1992) 'Symptoms of Canada'. CineAction, 28 [Details]
(1990)'Unifying the fragmented imaginary of the young immigrant: making a home in the post-modern with the Pogues'
Keohane, K; (1990) 'Unifying the fragmented imaginary of the young immigrant: making a home in the post-modern with the Pogues'. The Irish Review, 9 [Details]
(1989)'Toxic trade off: the price Ireland pays for industrial development'
Keohane, C; (1989) 'Toxic trade off: the price Ireland pays for industrial development'. The Ecologist, 19 (4) [Details]
(1987)'Ireland's role in the global trade in dangerous drugs'
Keohane, K.; (1987) 'Ireland's role in the global trade in dangerous drugs'. Third World Now, 6 [Details]

Conference Publications

 YearPublication
(2006)22nd EGOS Colloquium: Sub-theme 16 Interweaving of Organizations and Organizing in Creative Industries
Kuhling, C. Keohane, K. Kavanagh, D.; (2006) The Creative Scene of Riverdance: Artrepreneurship and the Celtic Tiger . In: Haldor Byrkjeflot eds. 22nd EGOS Colloquium: Sub-theme 16 Interweaving of Organizations and Organizing in Creative Industries Bergen, , 05-JUL-06 - 08-JUL-06 , pp.*-* [Details]
(1991)The Eleventh Biennial Conference of the Canadian Ethnic Studeis Association
Keohane K., Kuhling, C.; (1991) Immigration and National Identity: the theft and restoration of national enjoyment The Eleventh Biennial Conference of the Canadian Ethnic Studeis Association Winnipeg, Canada, , 23-OCT-91 - 26-OCT-91 [Details]

Professional Activities

Conference Contributions

 YearPublication
(2008)International Political Anthropology Symposium,
Keohane, K; (2008) Annual Event - Feb 08 and Feb 09. [Conference Organising Committee Member], International Political Anthropology Symposium, UCC , 01-JAN-08 - 01-JAN-09. [Details]
(1988)Interpretive Political Sociology,
Keohane, K; (1988) Annual Event - 1988 to 2005. [Conference Organising Committee Member], Interpretive Political Sociology, Allihies, Bearra, West Cork , 01-JAN-88 - 01-JAN-05. [Details]

Employment

 EmployerPositionFrom / To
University College Cork College Lecturer01-SEP-94 / 31-AUG-10
York University, Toronto Lecturer, Dept of Sociology01-SEP-92 / 31-MAY-94

Education

 YearInstitutionQualificationSubject
1994York University Ph.D.
1987National University of Ireland M.A.
1985National University of Ireland Bachelor of Social Science

Journal Activities

 JournalRoleTo / From
Best Of Times And Worst Of Times: The Irish Review 2008 Editor-
Whelan'S Reinventing Modern Dublin: A Review In Irish Studies Review Editor-

Teaching Activities

Teaching Interests



As well as a full range of undergraduate teaching I have been centrally involved in developing postgraduate education in UCC and nationally. 

I established and co-ordinate a graduate programme in Health, Civilization & Nature at UCC; I am a co-founder & board member MPlan (Planning & Sustainable Development) UCC.

I restructured the graduate sociology in UCC as a modularized and ects weighted programme.

I initiated, led and brought to fruition an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional Graduate Research Education Programme (GREP) PhD Social Science at UCC.

I led the development of graduate education in the Irish Social Science Platform

Recent Postgraduates

 Graduation YearStudent NameInstitutionDegree TypeThesis Title
2014Dr Lorcan Byrne UCCPHD“Between Respectability and Disgrace: Schismogenesis and the Regeneration of Inequality, Stigma, and Social Exclusion in Limerick”.
2012Dr Peter Kearney UCCPHD“The Barretstown Experience”
2010Dr John O’Brien UCCPHD“Civilization and Intoxication”
2009Dr John McNamara UCCPHD“The Genesis of American Nationalism
2001Professor Sinisa Malesevic UCCPHD“Democracy, Legitimacy and the New State: Political Culture in the Former Yugoslavia”
1998Dr Dirka Gresisshaber UCCPHD“Representations of Africa by Aid Agencies”

Modules Taught

 Term (ID))TitleLinkSubject
2017Research Essay SC3018Research Essay
2016Sociology of Education, Learning and Work SC2017Sociology of Education, Learning and Work
2016Introduction to Planning and Sustainable Development SC3007Introduction to Planning and Sustainable Development
2017Global Community SC3020Global Community
2016Social Pathology and Civic Health SC7627Social Pathology and Civic Health
2016Social Theory Paradigms and Thesis Definition I SC7106Social Theory Paradigms and Thesis Definition I
2016Race, Ethnicity, Migration and Nationalism SC2012Race, Ethnicity, Migration and Nationalism
2016Social Pathology and Civic Health SC6627Social Pathology and Civic Health
2017Research Seminars and Project SC3016Research Seminars and Project

Contact details

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Department of Sociology & Criminology

Socheolaíocht & Coireolaíocht

Askive, Donovan's Road, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, T12 DT02

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