Barry Cannon

Barry Cannon is an Irish academic specializing development and democratization who is from County Donegal, Ireland. His area of work has focused on politics in Latin America and he currently lectures at NUI Maynooth.

In 1985, Cannon earned his Bachelor of Arts in English and history from the University College Dublin. For the next 15 years, Cannon traveled to England, Spain and Peru, working in local government, English teaching and development. In 1995 while in London, Cannon obtained his part-time Master of Science in sociology. In 2000, he returned to Ireland to earn his Phd from the Dublin City University studying Latin American populism under Peadar Kirby. While spending eight months of studying in Peru and Venezuela for his Phd, Cannon witnessed the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt and in 2004, he completed his Phd at Dublin City University.

After completing his studies at Dublin City University, Cannon worked for Irish NGO Comhlamh on an Irish Aid project for international volunteering. At this time, Cannon created a Code of Practice for organization that sent volunteers internationally and a Volunteer Charter, both used by the Irish Aid. Cannon returned to the Dublin City University School of Law and Government in 2006 helping organizations in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras, with the project aiding local governments and research. At this time, he witnessed a second coup, the 2009 Honduran coup d'état.

Cannon states that his work focuses on politics in Latin America, with his initial works focusing on leftist governments such as the Bolivarian government in Venezuela. He has recently began to study right-wing politics in the region. TheJournal.ie stated that Cannon appeared to be "an apologist" to Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and that "he challenged the statistics about Venezuela’s squandered oil wealth and the reality of failed social programmes". He has also participated in workshops with the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, an organization that shows solidarity with the Bolivarian government in Venezuela.

In 2012, Cannon along with co-author Peadar Kirby presented the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, their book ’Civil Society and the State in Left-Led Latin America. In 2013, Cannon began work as a lecturer for Maynooth University.

Books

• Cannon, edited by Barry; Kirby, Peadar (2012). Civil Society and the State in Left-Led Latin America : Challenges and Limitations to Democratization. London: Zed Books, Limited. ISBN 1780322046. 
• Cannon, Barry (2010). Hugo Chavez and the Boliviarian revolution : populism and democracy in a globalised age (1st ed.). Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719077729. 

Journals

• Cannon, Barry (December 2014). "As Clear as MUD: Characteristics, Objectives, and Strategies of the Opposition in Bolivarian Venezuela". Latin American Politics and Society. 56 (4): 49–70. doi:10.1111/j.1548-2456.2014.00248.x. 
• Cannon, Barry; Murphy, Mary P. (30 July 2014). "Where are the Pots and Pans? Collective Responses in Ireland to Neoliberalization in a Time of Crisis: Learning from Latin America". Irish Political Studies. 30 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1080/07907184.2014.942292. 
• (Spanish) Cannon, Barry (2014). "El poder de la derecha y la influencía permanente de la élite en Centroamérica." 35 (56): 78–105.
• Cannon, Barry; Hume, Mo (December 2012). "Central America, civil society and the 'pink tide': democratization or de-democratization?". Democratization. 19 (6): 1039–1064. doi:10.1080/13510347.2011.619775. 
• Cannon, Barry (August 2010). "Wanted! 'Strong publics' for uncertain times: the project". Development in Practice. 20 (6): 649–663. doi:10.1080/09614524.2010.491533. 
• Cannon, Barry (June 2008). "Class/Race Polarisation in Venezuela and the Electoral Success of Hugo Chávez: a break with the past or the song remains the same?". Third World Quarterly. 29 (4): 731–748. doi:10.1080/01436590802075020. 
• Cannon, Barry (July 2004). "Venezuela, April 2002: Coup or Popular Rebellion? The Myth of a United Venezuela". Bulletin of Latin American Research. 23 (3): 285–302. doi:10.1111/j.0261-3050.2004.00109.x.