Dr Eoin Flaherty

    Sociology

    Lecturer / Assistant Professor

    TSI Building
    2nd Fl
    2.62

    Biography

    I am interested in some basic questions of collective behavior: how are patterns of inequality formed and maintained, and how do they change? I study these processes over time and space, with a particular focus on income inequality during the late 20th/early 21st century, and instances of famine during the 19th century (mainly Ireland for now). I am also interested in how human societies have formed systems of cooperation and managed resources collectively, and whether such systems were more resilient to environmental stress.

    Recent published work available here:

    Slater, Eamonn and Flaherty, Eoin (2023) 'Marx on the Reciprocal Interconnections between the Soil and the Human Body: Ireland and Its Colonialised Metabolic Rifts'. Antipode, 55 (2):620-642. 

    Moran M.; Flaherty E. (2023) 'Rethinking the Concept of a ‘Financial Elite’: A Critical Intervention'. Critical Sociology, 49 (7-8): 1157-1172.

    Research Interests

    My specific research interests include:

    • Top income inequality, labour's share of national income, time series and pooled time series cross-section analysis, rentier incomes.
    • Financialisation, social structures of accumulation, power resources. 
    • Famine, common-pool resource systems, primitive communism, nineteenth-century Ireland.
    • Marxist social theory (with a special interest in ecology), and the history of Marxist thought
    • Complexity theory, human ecology, environmental sociology. 

    Research Projects

    Title Role Description Start date End date Amount
    Re-House that Data: Building Data and Communication Skills for Social Change Co-PI 01/02/2021 14/05/2021 3000
    ESRC Festival of Social Science Co-PI 12/06/2015 10/06/2016 2400
    The historical dynamics of labour’s share of national income in Ireland and Denmark PI 07/10/2013 30/03/2014 71000
    Environmental Developments as Complex Entities PI 17/09/2007 17/09/2010 63000

    Peer Reviewed Journal

    Year Publication
    2025 Eoin Flaherty (2025) 'The three worlds of heavy metal: Inequality and the political economy of metal music'. Metal Music Studies, 11 (1).
    2023 Eoin Flaherty; Marie Moran (2023) 'Rethinking the Concept of a ‘Financial Elite’: A Critical Intervention'. Critical Sociology, 49 (7-8):1157-1172. [DOI]
    2023 Coulter, Colin., Shirlow, Peter., and Flaherty, Eoin (2023) '‘Seismic’ or Stalemate? The bio(politics) of the 2021 Northern Ireland Census'. Space and Polity, 27 (1). [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2023 Flaherty, E.; McAuley, M. (2023) 'New dimensions of inequality in Northern Ireland, 1998–2020'. Space and Polity, . [Link] [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2023 Slater, Eamonn and Flaherty, Eoin (2023) 'Marx on the Reciprocal Interconnections between the Soil and the Human Body: Ireland and Its Colonialised Metabolic Rifts'. Antipode, 55 (2):620-642. [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2022 Flaherty Eoin., Sturm Tristan., and Farries, Elizabeth (2022) 'The conspiracy of Covid-19 and 5G: Spatial analysis fallacies in the age of data democratization'. Social Science and Medicine, 293 . [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2022 Duong K.; Flaherty E. (2022) 'Does growth reduce poverty? The mediating role of carbon emissions and income inequality'. Economic Change and Restructuring, . [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2021 Flaherty, Eoin (2021) 'Common-pool resource governance and uneven food security: Regional resilience during the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1852'. Journal of Agrarian Change, 21 (2):285-312. [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2020 Flaherty Eoin and Ó Riain, Seán (2020) 'Labour's declining share of national income in Ireland and Denmark: The national specificities of structural change'. Socio-Economic Review, 18 (4):1039-1064. [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2019 Flaherty, Eoin (2019) 'Varieties of Regulation and Financialization: Comparative Pathways to Top Income Inequality in the OECD, 1975–2005'. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 21 (1):90-115. [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2016 Flaherty, Eoin (2016) 'Rundale and 19th Century Irish Settlement: System, Space, and Genealogy'. Irish Geography, 48 (2):3-38. [Link] http://dx.doi.org/10.2014/igj.v48i2.623 [Full-Text]
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) 'Top incomes under finance-driven capitalism, 1990-2010: power resources and regulatory orders'. Socio-Economic Review, 13 (3):417-447. [Link] https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwv011 [Full-Text]
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) 'A statistical and documentary primer on rundale in Ireland'. Ulster Folklife, 58 :22-32. [Full-Text]
    2014 Flaherty, Eoin (2014) 'Assessing the distribution of social-ecological resilience and risk: Ireland as a case study of the uneven impact of famine'. Ecological Complexity, 19 (9):35-45. [Link] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecocom.2014.04.002 [Full-Text]
    2014 Flaherty, Eoin (2014) 'Income inequality from 1960-2012: a brief time-series history of capital and labour'. Irish Journal of Sociology, 22 (1):88-101. [Link] https://doi.org/10.7227%2FIJS.22.1.6 [Full-Text]
    2013 Flaherty, Eoin (2013) 'Geographies of communality, colonialism, and capitalism: ecology and the world system'. Historical Geography, 41 :59-79. [Link] [Full-Text]
    2009 Slater, Eamonn., and Flaherty, Eoin (2009) ''Marx on primitive communism: The Irish rundale agrarian commune, its internal dynamics, and metabolic rift'. Irish Journal of Anthropology, 12 (2):5-34. [Link] [Full-Text]

    Book

    Year Publication
    2019 Flaherty, Eoin (2019) Complexity and Resilience in the Social and Ecological Sciences. London: Palgrave Macmillan. [DOI]

    Edited Book

    Year Publication
    2015 Ó Riain, Seán., Behling, Felix., Ciccia, Rossella., Flaherty, Eoin (Ed.). (2015) The Changing Worlds and Workplaces of Capitalism. London: Palgrave,

    Book Chapter

    Year Publication
    2018 Flaherty, Eoin (2018) 'Complex Inequalities in the Age of Financialisation: Piketty, Marx, and Class-Biased Power Resources' In: Twenty-First Century Inequality & Capitalism: Piketty, Marx and Beyond. Leiden : Brill.
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin., and Ó Riain, Seán (2015) 'The variety of Polanyian double movements in Europe¿s capitalisms' In: The changing worlds and workplaces of capitalism. London : Palgrave Macmillan. [Link] [DOI]
    2015 Ó Riain, Seán., Behling, Felix., Ciccia, Rossella., and Flaherty, Eoin (2015) 'Changing workplaces, changing capitalisms' In: The changing worlds and workplaces of capitalism. London : Palgrave Macmillan. [Link] [DOI]
    2015 Ó Riain, Seán., Behling, Felix., Ciccia, Rossella., and Flaherty, Eoin (2015) 'Integrating Work and Political Economy' In: The changing worlds and workplaces of capitalism. London : Palgrave Macmillan. [Link] [DOI]
    2010 Bendon, Mary., and Flaherty, Eoin (2010) 'Landscapes of recession in contemporary Ireland' In: Ireland of the illusions: a sociological chronicle. Dublin : Institute of Public Administration. [Link]

    Other Journal

    Year Publication
    2018 Flaherty, Eoin (2018) 'Doing Time Series Analyses of Income Inequality–Pooled or Comparative?' The game of greed and 20+18 other maths problems from Ireland, . [Link] [DOI]
    2016 Flaherty, Eoin (2016) 'Northern Ireland's Economy Post-Brexit: Is North-South Reunification the Answer?' Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics: Brexit Special (Online), . [Link]

    Media

    Year Publication
    2018 Flaherty, Eoin (2018) What will happen to Ireland's abortion rate after repeal?. London: [Media] [Link]
    2016 Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Four simple steps the UK government follows to make you really, really rich. [Media] [Link]
    2016 Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Was there ever a time when so few people controlled so much wealth?. [Media] [Link]
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Response to 'Fact check: Are those with the broadest shoulders bearing the greatest burden?'. [Media] [Link]
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Free from the confines of coalition, Osbourne goes on benefits rampage. [Media] [Link]
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Budget 2016: experts respond. [Media] [Link]

    Online Multimedia

    Year Publication
    2021 Flaherty, Eoin (2021) Data Analysis Using SPSS: Online Course. [Online Multimedia] [Link]
    2021 Flaherty, Eoin (2021) Data Analysis Using Stata: Online Course. [Online Multimedia] [Link]
    2020 Flaherty, Eoin (2020) Data Analysis Using JASP: Online Course. [Online Multimedia] [Link]

    Working Paper

    Year Publication
    2020 McAuley, Martina and Flaherty, Eoin (2020) “…til debt do us part…?” Unsecured Debt, Over-indebtedness, and Crisis in the Age of Financialisation. Maynooth University: [Working Paper]
    2020 Flaherty, Eoin and McAuley, Martina (2020) Class and Inequality in Northern Ireland. Maynooth University: [Working Paper]
    2019 Flaherty, Eoin (2019) Regional resilience during the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1852: the role of common tenancy in spatial inequalities of food security. Maynooth: [Working Paper] [Link]
    2013 Flaherty, Eoin and Sean Riain (2013) Labour's Declining Share of National Income in Ireland and Denmark: Similar Trends, Different Dynamics. [Working Paper] [Full-Text]
    2009 Slater, E. and Flaherty, E. (2009) The Ecological Dynamics of the Rundale Agrarian Commune. [Working Paper] [Full-Text]

    Book Review

    Year Publication
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Brunsdon and Comber's 'An Introduction to R for Spatial Analysis and Mapping' (with notes on making the big switch). [Book Review] [Link]
    2014 Flaherty, Eoin (2014) Derek Wall: The Sustainable Economics of Elinor Ostrom: Commons, Contestation and Craft. [Book Review] [Link] https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-014-9664-6
    2013 Flaherty, Eoin (2013) Social Measurement Through Social Surveys, An Applied Approach. Ireland: [Book Review] [DOI]

    Conference Contribution

    Year Publication
    2024 Eoin Flaherty (2024) The implications of the end of the capitalocene for Social Policy The implications of the end of the capitalocene for Social Policy University of Strathclyde, .
    2023 Flaherty, Eoin (2023) Sociology Association of Ireland Annual Conference Capital, Labour, and Inequality: Why a Two-Class Model Fits University College Dublin, .
    2022 Flaherty, Eoin (2022) TASC Report Launch: The State We Are In: Inequality in Ireland 2022 Response to Report Launch Dublin, .
    2021 Moran, Marie., Flaherty, Eoin (2021) European Sociological Association On the Concept of a Financial Elite: A Critical Realist Intervention Barcelona (online delivery), .
    2019 Flaherty, Eoin (2019) 16th Annual Historical Materialism Conference Metabolic Rift and Climate Change: An Empirical Test and Specification SOAS London, 07/11/2019-09/11/2019.
    2019 Flaherty, Eoin (2019) Nevin Economic Research Institute Seminar Series Social Class in Northern Ireland, in Theory & Data INTO Offices, Belfast, 13/06/2019-.
    2018 Flaherty, Eoin (2018) Capital, labour, and inequality: why a two-class model fits The ReBirth of Marxism: Haunting the Future Maynooth University, 04/05/2018-05/05/2018.
    2018 Flaherty, Eoin (2018) Complex Inequalities and Class Analysis: Toward a Two-Class Model of Capital and Labour Contesting Inequalities Queen's University Belfast, 14/09/2018-14/09/2018.
    2018 Flaherty, Eoin (2018) How do countries financialise? Different historical pathways to top income inequality Sociological Association of Ireland Annual Conference Dublin Institute of Technology, 18/05/2018-19/05/2018.
    2017 Flaherty, Eoin (2017) A century of rundale scholarship: competing frameworks, concepts, and explanations Rundale in Ireland and beyond Queen's University Belfast, 26/05/2017-27/05/2017.
    2017 Flaherty, Eoin (2017) Income inequality and the future of unionisation After the future of work Robert Emmett Community Development Project, 25/08/2017-25/08/2017.
    2017 Flaherty, Eoin (2017) Discussant for S. Doebler, 'Access to a car and experiences of loneliness among older Europeans in rural areas' Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network Annual Meeting Aberystwyth University, 30/05/2017-01/06/2017.
    2016 Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Common-pool resource governance and uneven food security: A geographical model of resilience during the Great Irish Famine Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network Annual Meeting Queen's University Belfast, 12/05/2016-12/05/2016.
    2016 Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Inequality and the institutional evolution of financialisation Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Meeting University of California, Berkeley, 23/06/2016-25/06/2016.
    2016 Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Introduction to Geographical Information Systems and Geostatistics Graduate School in Quantitative Methods University of Limerick, 21/01/2016-22/01/2016.
    2016 Flaherty, Eoin (2016) Complexity science and income inequality Institute for Analytical Sociology Seminar Series Linkoping University, 11/04/2016-11/04/2016.
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Theorising and modelling inequality and social change Graduate School in Quantitative Methods University of Limerick, 23/01/2015-23/01/2015.
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Spatial autocorrelation of contextual factors, and the geography of famine distress: the role of common-pool resource governance Conference of Irish Geographers Queen's University Belfast, 21/05/2015-21/05/2015.
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Asymmetric bargaining and top incomes under finance-driven capitalism Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Meeting London School of Economics, 02/07/2015-02/07/2015.
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin., and McNamee, Cate (2015) Family and the Commons: An Historical Demography and Household Composition Analysis of Pre-Famine Ireland British Society for Population Studies University of Leeds, 07/09/2015-08/09/2015.
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Resilience, systems theory, and method in environmental sociology Department of Sociology Seminar Series Maynooth University, 08/12/2015-08/12/2015.
    2015 Flaherty, Eoin (2015) Top incomes under finance-drive capitalism, 1990-2010 Conference of Irish Geographers Queen's University Belfast, 21/05/2015-21/05/2015.
    2013 Flaherty, Eoin (2013) Labour's share of national income: assessing the paradigmatic models of comparative political economy Futures of the Welfare State Umea University, 15/05/2013-15/05/2013.
    2013 Flaherty, Eoin (2013) The historical dynamics of labour's share of national income amongst the small open economies of Europe Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Meeting University of Milan, 27/06/2013-27/06/2013.
    2013 Flaherty, Eoin (2013) Social-ecological resilience, the rundale system, and the great Irish famine Economic and Social History Society of Ireland Annual Conference NUI Galways, 22/11/2013-22/11/2013.
    2013 Flaherty, Eoin., and Ó Riain, Seán (2013) Labour and the variety of Polanyian double movements in Europe's capitalisms Understanding the changing worlds of capitalism Maynooth University, 01/05/2013-01/05/2013.
    2013 Flaherty, Eoin (2013) Assessing the historical sustainability of the commons: Ireland and beyond The commons: in what state? University of Manchester, 20/06/2013-20/06/2013.
    2011 Flaherty, Eoin (2011) Marx's later writings on Ireland and pre-capitalism Annual Conference of the Social History Society University of Manchester, 12/04/2011-12/04/2011.
    2010 Flaherty, Eoin (2010) Contributions of Irish Agricultural History to Historical Materialism Historical Materialism SOAS University of London, 11/11/2010-11/11/2010.
    Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2025) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

    Professional Associations

    Description Function From / To
    Sociological Association of Ireland Membership Secretary 17/05/2018 -
    Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Member 01/05/2013 -
    Agricultural History Society of Ireland Secretary 03/05/2010 - 02/06/2014

    Honors and Awards

    Date Title Awarding Body
    01/10/2020 Early Career Faculty of Social Science Research Achievement Award Maynooth University
    01/09/2016 Honorary Research Fellow Queen's University Belfast

    Employment

    Employer Position From / To
    Queen's University Belfast Lecturer 01/04/2014 - 31/08/2016
    University College Dublin Assistant Professor 05/09/2016 - 28/09/2018
    Dublin City University Assistant Lecturer 08/09/2008 - 18/12/2009

    Education

    Start date Institution Qualification Subject
    Queen's University Belfast Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching Education
    Maynooth University B.A. Sociology and Geography
    Maynooth University PhD Sociology

    Languages

    Language Reading Writing Speaking
    Gaelige Functional Functional Functional

    Teaching Interests

    Human ecology and environmental sociology
    Marxian social theory
    Historical sociology
    Famines and food security
    Income inequality
    Political economy
    Quantitative research methods
    Time series and panel models