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Some Useful Sources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2020

Kevin Farnsworth and
Zoë Irving
Kevin Farnsworth
Affiliation:
University of York, UK E-mail: kevin.farnsworth@york.ac.uk
Zoë Irving
Affiliation:
University of York, UK E-mail: zoe.irving@york.ac.uk
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Abstract

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Information

Type
Themed Section: A Hostile Decade for Social Policy: Economic Crisis, Political Crisis and Austerity 2010-20
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , January 2021, pp. 172 - 174
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2021

Historical analyses of austerity

Austerity has been subject to sustained analysis since 2008 given its significance in the post-crisis political economy of welfare. However, it is also important to consider its historical origins and application. The texts below provide analyses of austerity both in the recent and more distant past.

Key early contributions to the analysis of the 2008 global financial crisis and the onset of austerity

In the immediate and early post-crisis period much of the literature considered the political implications within the context of the survival of neo-liberalism as a hegemonic project. The texts below represent some of the key contributions with most relevance for social policy and the welfare state.

Contemporary analyses of the age of austerity around the world

Investigation and interrogation of the incidence and effects, or reach of austerity since 2008 has been undertaken across the social sciences. These selected sources present international, cross-national and/or global analytical perspectives.

The impact of austerity on people and policy

All areas of social, political and economic life have felt the impact of austerity even if indirectly, and similarly there is no aspect of social policy that has not been touched by retrenchment, even if this is variable cross-nationally. There are numerous studies that focus on local and specific areas of social policy or particular social groups, and the examples below are just some of the sources that focus on particular groups or policy areas where the impact of austerity has been assessed.

Electronic resources

Mark Blyth’s austerity ‘explainer’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go2bVGi0ReE A Watson Institute video on the global trend toward Austerity budgets featuring Mark Blyth. Directed by Joe Posner, Brown University, USA [accessed 12.09.2020]. This is an early contribution to the public understanding of austerity’s origins, aims and likely outcomes.

With a focus on public spending as an indicator of the presence or absence of austerity, key economic international governmental organisations collect data on revenues and spending. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Fiscal Monitor https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fm [accessed 12.09.20] was established in 2009 to provide international surveillance of developments in public finances. OECD Data relevant to public spending is found in various topic areas at https://data.oecd.org and data specifically relating to the European Union can be found within a different categorisation of topic areas through the European Commission https://ec.europa.eu/budget/graphs/revenue_expediture.html and through the statistical service Eurostat https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database [accessed 12.09.2020].

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