Our research
The IIIS supports and promotes Trinity's research programme in European and international integration in the social sciences, business, law and those aspects of the humanities which explore the processes of cultural identity formation, encounters and change. This research programme is one of the five priority research themes in the College's Strategic Plan 2009-2014 . This programme seeks to better understand the causes and consequences of international integration - also known as globalisation - by forging dialogue between the relevant disciplines. It analyses the different layers of globalisation – financial, political, technological, media-based, cultural and religious – and develops frameworks and criteria for solutions to improve the management and outcomes of globalisation processes.
In promoting this research agenda, the Institute's Research Programme is grouped into seven major strands.
- Understanding and managing the dynamics of international integration in its business, cultural, economic, legal, social and political dimensions. Is globalisation new, and under what circumstances can it break down or be reversed? What are the consequences of increased mobility of capital, goods and people? What role do new forms of business organisation and business technologies play in these processes? What are the consequences for inter-cultural engagement, conflict and co-operation across boundaries? What kinds of governance arrangements, international rules and institutions are needed to manage globalisation processes in the wider public interest?
- Understanding the processes of European integration, not only for its intrinsic importance for those of us living in Europe but also for the lessons it can provide about the prospects for further integration in other regions and at a global level, especially in regard to the construction of cross-national political and economic institutions.
- Tackling the issues of global disparities in the development process and the challenge of understanding how globalisation affects, in particular, low-income countries and the appropriate forms of assistance that might be offered by the international community.
- Producing research that draws out the lessons from Ireland as a case study in understanding globalisation. Ireland ranks at or near the top of various international rankings of globalisation and there is great international interest in the Irish experience. What were the policies and institutions that enabled Ireland to benefit from international integration during recent decades? What can we learn about the sustainability of these policies and institutions, given the unprecedented recent economic reversal?
- Investigating the significance of globalisation for post-conflict justice, not least because of international interest in the peace process in Northern Ireland, although the research interests of scholars associated with the IIIS are wider than this.
- Exploring the consequences in the climate justice network of the fact that developed countries are the main contributors to the man-made drivers of global warming, while developing countries particularly in the tropics will be the ones to face its adverse consequences. This network explores the nature of this relationship, the technologies available to mitigate these effects, and the appropriate responses in terms of global governance.
- Evaluating the impact of immigration, understanding the lives of migrants and designing effective and fair migration and integration policies is a challenge facing all societies in an increasingly inter-dependent world. Trinity research, grouped under the Trinity Immigration Initiative, aims to deliver the evidence on which more successful integration policies can be based.