Austerity

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Rebecca Bramall - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • On Being ‘Inside’ Austerity: Austerity Chic, Consumer Culture, and Anti-Austerity Protest
    The Cultural Politics of Austerity, 2020
    Co-Authors: Rebecca Bramall
    Abstract:

    On Friday, 24 April 2009, official figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed that the British economy had shrunk ‘at the fastest rate in 30 years’ in the first three months of that year (Kollewe, 2009). The figures were seen as throwing into question Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling’s more optimistic budget forecast, issued just a few days previously. That evening, the lead story on Newsnight (a current affairs programme) was the inevitability of ‘very substantial cuts in public spending’. ‘How will our lives change to cope with this new age of Austerity?’, the programme asked. This was by no means the first time the phrase ‘age of Austerity’ had been used to describe the new era of spending cuts, but it is a useful and representative instance to recall, because many of the themes and tropes with which we have become familiar were present in that edition of Newsnight, including the use of historical analogy. As Kirsty Wark explained in her introduction to the programme’s studio debate: ‘[t]his is the era of the new Austerity, harking back to the post-war age of Austerity when shortages and restrictions meant people had no choice but to “make do and mend”’. As if to underline the credibility of this comparison, David Kynaston, historian and author of a book about Austerity Britain 1945–51 (2008a), joined Wark to discuss how people would ‘cope’ with the coming crisis, along with television presenter Kirstie Allsopp.1

  • Afterword: Austerity and After
    The Cultural Politics of Austerity, 2020
    Co-Authors: Rebecca Bramall
    Abstract:

    This book represents an attempt to develop a conjunctural analysis of ‘Austerity’, focusing on the ways in which the past - the historical era of ‘Austerity Britain’ - has been put to work in the present. I have sought to offer an alternative to the ‘for’ and ‘against’ paradigm of Austerity by drawing attention to the diverse ways in which social actors have made use of concepts of Austerity, and in which audiences and consumers have responded to these mobilizations. At the same time, this conjuncture has served as a case study for the elaboration of a series of arguments about ‘left’ (green, red, and feminist) political uses of the past, and the assumptions about history that adhere in theoretical reflection on these political movements. In this afterword I want to sum up the conclusions I have drawn in relation to these two objectives, before turning to two themes I have yet to address adequately. These themes relate to the discursivity of Austerity, and to its periodization: what comes ‘after’ Austerity?

  • Austerity Pasts, Austerity Futures?
    Transitioning to a Post-Carbon Society, 2016
    Co-Authors: Rebecca Bramall
    Abstract:

    What are the conditions under which the meaning of the signifier “Austerity” might be reworked for environmental ends? Could the concept of “Austerity” describe a mode of living that is compatible with the challenges of working towards transition and degrowth? This chapter considers what can be learnt from the UK context, in which social actors in environmental and transition politics have—since the early 2000s—elaborated a concept of “eco-Austerity”. This has been achieved via the mobilization of a particular historical period as symbolic resource: the period 1939–1954, an era widely known as “Austerity Britain”. Through an evaluation of this activity, the chapter identifies the significant challenges presented by a project of recasting the meaning of the signifier “Austerity”, as well as the possibilities for alternative future-making that may yet be associated with this concept.

  • Introduction: The Future of Austerity
    new formations, 2016
    Co-Authors: Rebecca Bramall
    Abstract:

    There have been times over the last fi ve years, and particularly in the last year or two, when we have seemed to glimpse the beginning of the end of the Austerity conjuncture in Europe. In these moments the perpetuation of Austerity measures - the very future of Austerity - has been called into question. In the run up to Greece's legislative election in January 2015 Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras campaigned on an anti-Austerity platform, promising that 'our common future in Europe is not the future of Austerity'. 1 Syriza's success opened up a route towards this alternative future, while the 'oxi' result in July's referendum, in which over sixty per cent of Greek voters rejected proposals made by Greece's creditors, looked like a further step towards its realisation. Tsipras's subsequent recommendation that the Greek government accept a euro13 billion package of Austerity measures closed down this sense of possibility and of an alternative future. Once again, the end of the age of Austerity - momentarily sighted - disappeared over the horizon.This reckoning around Austerity's prospects in European politics and macroeconomics constitutes one of the ways in which Austerity can be construed as bound up with 'the future', as a policy measure: fi scal Austerity has a future which has been the object of speculation in both alternative and mainstream news media. But while these macro-level predictions are clearly of immense signifi cance to all European citizens, Austerity also works on the future in other ways. In the wake of the global fi nancial crisis, critics of the politics of Austerity were quick to emphasise Austerity's impact on the future as well as the present. The summoning of various publics 'who share interests, concerns, anxieties and will potentially inhabit a shared future'2 has been prevalent in Austerity discourse, with the 'children of Austerity' emerging as a particularly signifi cant focus of attention. 3 David Cameron's now-infamous pronouncement that 'we're all in this together' provides another defi nitive example.4 Those who seek to challenge Austerity have vividly imagined the futures of Austerity's casualties; in one commentator's estimation, 'the future of Austerity's many victims in Britain, especially women, will be grim'.5 Taken in this sense, the 'future of Austerity' refers to the future or futures that Austerity has begun to install - it evokes both the material constraints that fi scal tightening endows the future and the ways in which people living with Austerity have begun to imagine their own and others' futures.This special issue explores some of the ways in which Austerity can be construed as capturing, shaping, and (dis)organising the future. It addresses the futures that Austerity has begun to assign to certain subjects and to embed in the societies they live in. It attends to the promises for the future that have unravelled in the Austerity conjuncture, and the new modes of expectation that have been offered and embraced in their place. In a context of rising levels of household debt in the UK and other countries, particular attention is given to indebted imaginaries, and to Maurizio Lazzarato's claim that the debt economy is depriving workers of their very future.6PROMISES FOR THE FUTURERegardless of the longevity of a response to the global fi nancial crisis and the Eurozone debt crisis that prioritises fi scal consolidation, Austerity has already made its mark on European social democracy. Over and above its role as a tool of economic management, Austerity is widely recognised by those on the political left as a process through which the state is being dismantled.7 On this account, Austerity is best understood not as a temporary measure for dealing with government debt, but as an enduring commitment to reshape social relations. As James Meadway puts it, 'permanent Austerity' involves the 'resetting of the relationship between state and citizens'.8 For some, this 'war on welfare' marks the end of the post-war social contract - the withdrawal, in effect, of the 'promise' for the future that the post-war conjuncture delivered. …

  • What is Austerity
    new formations, 2016
    Co-Authors: Rebecca Bramall, Jeremy Gilbert, James Meadway
    Abstract:

    This is the edited transcript of a conversation between Rebecca Bramall, editor of this special issue, Jeremy Gilbert, editor of New Formations, and James Meadway, who at the time was chief economist of the New Economics Foundation and is currently advising shadow chancellor of the exchequer John McDonnell in a consultancy capacity. The discussion touches on the different meanings of ‘Austerity’ in contemporary political discourse, the history of neoliberal Austerity programmes and their political and social effects, the uneven implementation of Austerity in the UK, and various other issues in understanding the cultural, social and economic politics of ‘Austerity’ in contemporary Britain, today and in the future.

Fran Tonkiss - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Austerity urbanism and the makeshift city
    City, 2013
    Co-Authors: Fran Tonkiss
    Abstract:

    This paper engages with a recent set of critical arguments concerning the 'post-crisis city' and the political economy of 'Austerity urbanism'. The focus of the discussion is on practical interventions in the vacant and disused spaces of recessionary cities, and in particular on temporary designs and provisional uses. In this way, it opens a further line of argument about urbanism under conditions of Austerity, alongside analyses of the formal politics of Austerity or the possibilities of urban activism in these settings. Its concern is with forms of urban intervention that re-work orthodoxies of urban development as usual: in particular the timescales that inform conventional development models; the understandings of use around which sites are planned and designed; and the ways in which value is realized through the production of urban spaces. The argument centres on European contexts of Austerity urbanism, drawing on critical examples of urban design and occupation in the region's largest economies. Such urban strategies are concerned with a politics and a practice of small incursions in material spaces that seek to create a kind of 'durability through the temporary'.

Martin Mckee - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Austerity and the rise of the Nazi party
    National Bureau of Economic Research, 2017
    Co-Authors: Gregori Galofré-vilà, Martin Mckee, Christopher M. Meissner, David Stuckler
    Abstract:

    The current historical consensus on the economic causes of the inexorable Nazi electoral success between 1930 and 1933 suggests this was largely related to the Treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression. Alternatively, it has been speculated that contractionary fiscal Austerity measures contributed to votes for the Nazi party. Voting data from 1,024 districts and 98 cities shows that Chancellor Bruning’s Austerity measures (spending cuts and tax increases) were positively associated with increasing vote shares for the Nazi party. We also find that the suffering due to Austerity (measured by mortality rates) radicalized the German electorate. Our findings are robust to a range of specifications including an instrumental variable strategy and a border-pair policy discontinuity design.

  • Austerity and health the impact in the uk and europe
    European Journal of Public Health, 2017
    Co-Authors: David Stuckler, Marina Karanikolos, Aaron Reeves, Rachel Loopstra, Martin Mckee
    Abstract:

    Austerity measures-reducing social spending and increasing taxation-hurts deprived groups the most. Less is known about the impact on health. In this short review, we evaluate the evidence of Austerity's impact on health, through two main mechanisms: a 'social risk effect' of increasing unemployment, poverty, homelessness and other socio-economic risk factors (indirect), and a 'healthcare effect' through cuts to healthcare services, as well as reductions in health coverage and restricting access to care (direct). We distinguish those impacts of economic crises from those of Austerity as a response to it. Where possible, data from across Europe will be drawn upon, as well as more extensive analysis of the UK's Austerity measures performed by the authors of this review.

  • the effects of the financial crisis and Austerity measures on the spanish health care system a qualitative analysis of health professionals perceptions in the region of valencia
    Health Policy, 2015
    Co-Authors: Francisco Cerveroliceras, Martin Mckee, Helena Legidoquigley
    Abstract:

    The recent financial crisis has seen severe Austerity measures imposed on the Spanish health care system. However, the impacts are not yet well documented. We describe the findings from a qualitative study that explored health care professionals’ perception of the effects of Austerity measures in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Valencia. A total of 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted with health professionals, recorded and fully transcribed. We coded all interviews using an inductive approach, drawing on techniques used in the constant comparative method. Health professionals reported increases in mental health conditions and malnutrition linked to a loss of income from employment and cuts to social support services. Health care professionals perceived that the quality of health care had become worse and health outcomes had deteriorated as a result of Austerity measures. Interviewees also suggested that increased copayments meant that a growing number of patients could not afford necessary medication. While a few supported reforms and policies, such as the increase in copayments for pharmaceuticals, most opposed the privatization of health care facilities, and the newly introduced Royal Decree-law 16/2012, particularly the exclusion of non-residents from the health care system. The prevailing perception is that Austerity measures are having negative effects on the quality of the health care system and population health. In light of this evidence there is an urgent need to evaluate the Austerity measures recently introduced and to consider alternatives such as the derogation of the Royal Decree-law 16/2012.

  • Austerity a failed experiment on the people of europe
    Clinical Medicine, 2012
    Co-Authors: Martin Mckee, Marina Karanikolos, Paul Belcher, David Stuckler
    Abstract:

    Many governments in Europe, either of their own volition or at the behest of the international financial institutions, have adopted stringent Austerity policies in response to the financial crisis. By contrast, the USA launched a financial stimulus. The results of these experiments are now clear: the American economy is growing and those European countries adopting Austerity, including the UK, Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain, are stagnating and struggling to repay rising debts. An initial recovery in the UK was halted once Austerity measures hit. However, Austerity has been not only an economic failure, but also a health failure, with increasing numbers of suicides and, where cuts in health budgets are being imposed, increasing numbers of people being unable to access care. Yet their stories remain largely untold. Here, we argue that there is an alternative to Austerity, but that ide- ology is triumphing over evidence. Our paper was written to contribute to discussions among health policy leaders in Europe that will take place at the 15th European Health Forum at Gastein in October 2012, as its theme 'Crisis and Opportunity - Health in an Age of Austerity'.

Helena Legidoquigley - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • the effects of the financial crisis and Austerity measures on the spanish health care system a qualitative analysis of health professionals perceptions in the region of valencia
    Health Policy, 2015
    Co-Authors: Francisco Cerveroliceras, Martin Mckee, Helena Legidoquigley
    Abstract:

    The recent financial crisis has seen severe Austerity measures imposed on the Spanish health care system. However, the impacts are not yet well documented. We describe the findings from a qualitative study that explored health care professionals’ perception of the effects of Austerity measures in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Valencia. A total of 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted with health professionals, recorded and fully transcribed. We coded all interviews using an inductive approach, drawing on techniques used in the constant comparative method. Health professionals reported increases in mental health conditions and malnutrition linked to a loss of income from employment and cuts to social support services. Health care professionals perceived that the quality of health care had become worse and health outcomes had deteriorated as a result of Austerity measures. Interviewees also suggested that increased copayments meant that a growing number of patients could not afford necessary medication. While a few supported reforms and policies, such as the increase in copayments for pharmaceuticals, most opposed the privatization of health care facilities, and the newly introduced Royal Decree-law 16/2012, particularly the exclusion of non-residents from the health care system. The prevailing perception is that Austerity measures are having negative effects on the quality of the health care system and population health. In light of this evidence there is an urgent need to evaluate the Austerity measures recently introduced and to consider alternatives such as the derogation of the Royal Decree-law 16/2012.

Charles C Ragin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • global and national sources of political protest third world responses to the debt crisis
    American Sociological Review, 1990
    Co-Authors: John Walton, Charles C Ragin
    Abstract:

    In recent years internationalfinancial institutions have required Third World debtor countries to adopt various Austerity policies designed to restore economic viability and ensure debt repayment. The hardships created by these policies have provoked unprecedented protests in debtor countries, ranging from mass demonstrations to organized strikes and riots. We examine variation among Third World debtor countries in the presence and severity of protests against Austerity policies. Results show that the principal conditions for the occurrence and severity of Austerity protests are overurbanization and involvement of international agencies in domestic political-economic policy. We offer a theoretical interpretation that integrates global and national sources of contemporary political protest in the Third World.