Agriculture in Ireland: The past and potential futures of an imperialist industry

Critical Ecologies

In this podcast, Nicola Whelan traces the historical development of Ireland’s agricultural industry since the colonial period. Starting with a discussion of Karl Marx and his account of the Irish ‘metabolic rift’ under British rule, we consider some of the lasting impacts this period of intensive production has had on the farming landscape of Ireland today. Nicola suggests that following independence, Ireland inadvertently turned to other forms of imperialism, looking particularly at the power that modern science and technology continues to hold over conventional farming methods. We discuss both the opportunities and risks presented by an agricultural future built around digital and techno-fixes. Nicola then introduces the concept of agroecology, outlining the potential of this growing movement as a solution to agriculture’s most harmful practices. To finish, we consider some of the systemic changes that would be needed to mainstream an agroecological approach, highlighting the important work that Irish farming group Talamh Beo are doing in this regard.