Paper short abstract:

In Ireland, "If you're hungry enough, you'll dig up the tar on the road with your teeth to get a vote." Based upon three decades of ethnographic research, "All Politics is Local" is the first feature-length documentary depiction of Irish politicians from an ethnographic perspective.

Paper long abstract:

In Ireland, "If you're hungry enough, you'll dig up the tar on the road with your teeth to get a vote." It's not only the other parties that are a threat to you, it's your running mate. Indeed, it's the internal rivalry that can be the most bitter and acrimonious, as well as the most entertaining. Based upon three decades of ethnographic research, "All Politics is Local" is the first feature-length documentary depiction of Irish politicians from an ethnographic perspective. A narrative of the 2007 electoral campaign in Cork South-West, it portrays the fray from within. As such, it aims to make an academic contribution to Irish studies that is designed to inform and explain as well as to entertain.