22: Terry Dunne: Anti-war and Activist Movements, Historical Sociology, and "Peelers and Sheep"

•   12th April 2021
•   1 hr 02 mins

In this episode we talk to Terry Dunne, first about his own activism, from the anti-war movement, the non-hierarchical environmental and social justice movement, Gluaiseacht, and the broader activist context at that time. We then discuss Terry's research in the area of agrarian agitation during the Irish revolutionary period, which is explored in Terry's podcast, Peelers and Sheep, and how that fits with more traditional narratives of Irish history.

In this episode we talk to Terry Dunne. As an activist, Terry has been involved in anarchist groups, and the anti-war, environmental and social justice movements. Terry has a PhD in sociology and an interest in the historical sociology of social movements. He has written particularly on agrarian social movements, and his work has been published in journals such as Saothar, Critical Historical Studies and Rural History. Terry also writes and hosts the Peelers and Sheep: Rebel Tales from the Land podcast.

We first get an overview of Terry’s own activism, from the anti-war movement, the non-hierarchical environmental and social justice movement, Gluaiseacht, and the broader activist context at that time. We then discuss Terry’s research in the area of agrarian agitation during the Irish revolutionary period, which is explored in Terry’s podcast, Peelers and Sheep, and how that fits with more traditional narratives of Irish history.

Terry’s podcast explores a fascinating history - look up Peelers and Sheep in your podcast app or you’ll find it at peelersandsheep.ie .

Terry mentions the influence of Peoples’ Global Action and their hallmarks - you’ll find their archived website here .

Listeners will find an overview of the Grassroots Gatherings and movements around that period in this article from Laurence Cox: The Grassroots Gatherings Networking a “movement of movements” 

To explore Irish labour history further, two good sources of material are the Irish Labour History Society  and Irish Centre for the Histories of Labour & Class .