Foreword

Welcome to Volume XXX of the Social and Political Review. Since its foundation, the SPR has played a vital role in encouraging and showcasing exceptional student achievement in Trinity College Dublin, and I am proud that this year’s edition continues a long-standing legacy of promoting and honouring academic engagement with some of the most pressing social and political issues of our time.

It has been an honour to serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the thirtieth volume of this amazing journal. This year was different to the ones that came before it. The COVID-19 pandemic meant the publication of our journal had to be delayed significantly, shelving our plans for an in-person launch to celebrate thirty years of publishing students’ papers. In a broader, more serious, context, the spread of coronavirus wreaked havoc around the world as the global economy stepped aside to allow for a worldwide competitive race for a vaccine. In the United States, the year was marked by protests against police brutality set against a backdrop of a divisive presidential election campaign.

Closer to home, the Irish fight against coronavirus, the uncertainty around Brexit and, the recent 2020 general election have meant the world that us students are living in changes more and more every day. Student-run academic journals reflect this change, and are now more important than they have ever been before.

I’d like to thank the Editorial Board of this edition. To Nathan and Niall from the Executive Board: thank you for your professionalism and hard work during a difficult time. To the Design Editor Katherine: thank you for creating a wonderful e-journal that students can access anywhere. I’d like to thank the Senior, Junior and Copy Editors who worked tirelessly to pick out the perfect articles. I want to thank the Departments of Political Science and Sociology, who have been so generous in their support of the Review. Finally, I would like to thank each student who submitted a paper: without you this journal would not have been published at all.

To the reader: I hope you will enjoy reading this volume of the SPR as much as I have.

Is mise le meas,

Jack Cullen

Editor-in-Chief