Overview

It is the 1960s, and Ireland is hoping to join what will later become the European Union. The government has devised a plan to protect Ireland's cultural identity and strengthen the Irish language by supporting small factories in the Gaeltacht, traditional Irish-speaking villages in remote western areas. But is the plan working? Will farmers go into the factories? Will their children see factory work as an alternative to emigration? And will a young anthropologist be able to make sense of it all in time to write her thesis? With her signature humour and charm, Eileen Kane transports the reader to County Donegal with a detailed account of rural Irish life during this period of rapid change. Drawing on traditional anthropological methods, as well as early participatory research, she discovers the cultural gap that exists between local communities and policy makers who are only a generation or two from the countryside. Sightlines is a story about people living beyond the margins of maps, boundaries, language groups, and government departments people bound by borders that have little or no correspondence to their own cultural, economic, and historical margins. Ultimately, it is a story about life on the edges, and the places and people who fall outside them. A companion website offers expanded discussions of historical events and study questions that draw connections to the state of the field today.

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9781487544997

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Reviews

Sightlines is a wonderful book. It is a study of the complicated responses to the Irish government's efforts in the 1960s, and it is the personal story of a young Irish-American anthropologist whose observations are by turns amusing and poignant, but always respectful and deeply sympathetic. Eloquent and insightful, Sightlines is a joy to read. - Kerby Miller, University of Missouri Sightlines provides a window into the experiences of a novice anthropologist working in a region in the midst of industrialization. Eileen Kane is an exceptional and gifted writer. I found myself mesmerized by her prose. Ideal for introductory classes, this book shows how ethnographers can and should be writing. - Liam D. Murphy, California State University, Sacramento Eileen Kane has balanced her reminiscences of her ethnographic research in rural Ireland a half century ago with a sophisticated and at times touching portrait of an Ireland that is still the bedrock of today's Irish culture. This is a must-read book in participatory research that will greatly benefit students of historical and contemporary Ireland. - Thomas M. Wilson, Binghamton University, SUNY Eileen Kane's memoir of an anthropologist-in-the-making will appeal to readers in and beyond the academy. Offering insight into the social histories of both Ireland and anthropology, Sightlines leaves us caring about the outcome for both the anthropologist and the people she writes about. - Robin Whitaker, Memorial University

"""Sightlines is a wonderful book. It is a study of the complicated responses to the Irish government's efforts in the 1960s, and it is the personal story of a young Irish-American anthropologist whose observations are by turns amusing and poignant, but always respectful and deeply sympathetic. Eloquent and insightful, Sightlines is a joy to read."" - Kerby Miller, University of Missouri ""Sightlines provides a window into the experiences of a novice anthropologist working in a region in the midst of industrialization. Eileen Kane is an exceptional and gifted writer. I found myself mesmerized by her prose. Ideal for introductory classes, this book shows how ethnographers can and should be writing."" - Liam D. Murphy, California State University, Sacramento ""Eileen Kane has balanced her reminiscences of her ethnographic research in rural Ireland a half century ago with a sophisticated and at times touching portrait of an Ireland that is still the bedrock of today's Irish culture. This is a must-read book in participatory research that will greatly benefit students of historical and contemporary Ireland."" - Thomas M. Wilson, Binghamton University, SUNY ""Eileen Kane's memoir of an anthropologist-in-the-making will appeal to readers in and beyond the academy. Offering insight into the social histories of both Ireland and anthropology, Sightlines leaves us caring about the outcome for both the anthropologist and the people she writes about."" - Robin Whitaker, Memorial University"

Author Information

Eileen Kane is an applied anthropologist who established and chaired the first department of anthropology in Ireland. She is the author of Trickster.

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