Kaitlyn Rabach

Kaitlyn Rabach is a Ph.D. candidate in the Anthropology Department at the University of California, Irvine. She holds an M.A. in social anthropology from SOAS, University of London (2017) and a B.A in political science from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame (2015). Her dissertation project studies the defective concrete disaster in County Donegal, Ireland, along the Irish-Northern Irish border. Using ethnographic research methods, she identifies the concrete crisis as a site to address questions of democratic backsliding and populism’s broader relationship with Irish democracy. She looks at the ways the Irish home itself, or rather the crumbling Irish home, has become an organizing unit for emerging and existing social movements. By thoroughly investigating past, current, and future policies around compensation for homeowners, the project also studies the political and social side effects of the lengthy and unsettled governmental redress scheme, including homeowners’ growing distrust in political leaders and broader systems of governance.

Proposal title: The Crumbling Homes of Donegal: Defective Concrete, Housing Insecurity, and Emerging Far-Right Populisms along the Irish Border