C. McGettrick et al., Ireland and the Magdalene Bodies: A Campaign for Justice, reviewed by Gráinne Perkins
by Gráinne Perkins
Ireland and the Magdalene Bodies: A Campaign for Justice is a self-proclaimed workbook for social justice campaigners. Its authors who are scholars, barristers, and survivors present the book based on a triple “A” model of academia, advocacy, and activism. I would, however, argue that this book incorporates a 4th and as important “A”, an archive. Michel Foucault (1936–1984) philosopher, theorist, and historian of ideas recognized the relationship between power and knowledge, histories of institutions, and the nature of discourse. His concept of an archive goes beyond the mere repository of historical, normally state documents as records of the past. History, too often, becomes a representation of what the powerful want us to see and to remember, what the state has chosen to document. However, by reading this book through Foucault’s understanding of an archive, this book is the collection of all material traces left behind by a particular historical period and culture (1972: 128–130). The narrative throughout the book underscores the authors’ commitment to making the invisible visible, using an archival investigative approach to expose hidden histories…(read more).
