THE IRISH CRASH IN GLOBAL CONTEXT

Abstract

This article will compare the development of the global neoliberal crisis and the Irish crisis, which is home-grown but, at the same time, an instance of the broader collapse of the recent stage of capitalism. This analysis will be carried out in the context of the Social Structure of Accumulation (SSA) Framework. While capitalism has long had an international dimension, prior to the global neoliberal era, this dimension was a shared international structure linked to discreet national SSAs. In the global neoliberal era, different national structures were integrated into a transnational SSA. One of the strengths of this structure is its ability to link different national formations into global commodity chains locating each productive operation in its potentially most profitable location. While non-neoliberal national formations were capable of integration into the global neoliberal order, the different locations within the global neoliberal SSA tended to produce national variations of the basic institutions of global neoliberalism. The Celtic Tiger era in Ireland will be analyzed as an instance and illustration of this phenomenon.