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20 Austerity

  • Ed Kiely
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De Gruyter Handbook of Feminist Political Geography
This chapter is in the book De Gruyter Handbook of Feminist Political Geography

Abstract

Geographers have often defined austerity in economic terms, neglecting the lived and felt dimensions of fiscal policies. In response, feminist researchers have begun to theorize austerity as an everyday phenomenon, highlighting its relational constitution and its impacts upon intimate geographies. This literature has interrogated the gendering of austerity, and its reproduction of intersecting social inequalities. It therefore takes up key themes from within feminist political geography, by grounding political institutions and power relations within everyday practices. Focusing predominantly on the UK, feminist geographers have interrogated the materialization of austerity within four interrelated, interpersonal domains: psychosocial; affective; discursive; and temporal. This work has mainly addressed the aftermath of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Future research should more precisely define distinct periods of austerity, to reflect the ebbs and flows of fiscal policy across time. This would broaden the geographical and historical reach of this literature, by highlighting relations with earlier deployments of austerity within structural adjustment programs in the Global South. In turn, this would foster engagements with theories of austerity developed by work of African, Latin American, and Caribbean feminists, whose work remains neglected. Mainstream feminist geographies must go further in foregrounding the scholarship of Black feminists, who have offered crucial accounts of the relationships between austerity, racialization, and colonialism. As austerity threatens to further corrode labor conditions within universities, this demands feminist interventions to tackle academic precarity, which disproportionately affects Black women.

Abstract

Geographers have often defined austerity in economic terms, neglecting the lived and felt dimensions of fiscal policies. In response, feminist researchers have begun to theorize austerity as an everyday phenomenon, highlighting its relational constitution and its impacts upon intimate geographies. This literature has interrogated the gendering of austerity, and its reproduction of intersecting social inequalities. It therefore takes up key themes from within feminist political geography, by grounding political institutions and power relations within everyday practices. Focusing predominantly on the UK, feminist geographers have interrogated the materialization of austerity within four interrelated, interpersonal domains: psychosocial; affective; discursive; and temporal. This work has mainly addressed the aftermath of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Future research should more precisely define distinct periods of austerity, to reflect the ebbs and flows of fiscal policy across time. This would broaden the geographical and historical reach of this literature, by highlighting relations with earlier deployments of austerity within structural adjustment programs in the Global South. In turn, this would foster engagements with theories of austerity developed by work of African, Latin American, and Caribbean feminists, whose work remains neglected. Mainstream feminist geographies must go further in foregrounding the scholarship of Black feminists, who have offered crucial accounts of the relationships between austerity, racialization, and colonialism. As austerity threatens to further corrode labor conditions within universities, this demands feminist interventions to tackle academic precarity, which disproportionately affects Black women.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements
  3. Contents VII
  4. 1 Introduction 1
  5. Part I: Foundations
  6. 2 The Feminist Geography Of Feminist Political Geography 18
  7. 3 Feminist Geopolitics 33
  8. 4 Intimate Geopolitics 51
  9. 5 Nationalism 65
  10. 6 De/coloniality 77
  11. 7 Decolonizing Feminist Geopolitics 89
  12. 8 Trauma 103
  13. 9 Peace 115
  14. Part II: Critical Interventions
  15. 10 Black Futurity 129
  16. 11 Racial Capitalism 141
  17. 12 Populism 153
  18. 13 Electoral Democracy 165
  19. 14 Crip Geographies 177
  20. 15 Queer Geographies 189
  21. 16 Trans Geographies 201
  22. 17 Cuerpo-Territorio 213
  23. 18 Geographies Of Technology 227
  24. 19 More-Than-Human Geographies 239
  25. 20 Austerity 251
  26. 21 Labor 263
  27. 22 Health 275
  28. 23 Environmental Justice 287
  29. Part III: Spaces
  30. 24 Territory 303
  31. 25 The Nation-State 315
  32. 26 The Border 329
  33. 27 Spaces Of Refuge And Asylum 341
  34. 28 The Body 353
  35. 29 Home 367
  36. 30 The Workplace 379
  37. 31 The City 391
  38. 32 The Rural 403
  39. 33 The Ocean 415
  40. 34 The Ship 427
  41. 35 Public Transport 439
  42. 36 Infrastructure 451
  43. 37 The Prison 461
  44. 38 Food 475
  45. Part IV: Methodologies
  46. 39 Postcolonial Positionality 487
  47. 40 Digital Methods And Community-Engaged Research 499
  48. 41 Fieldwork 511
  49. 42 Ethnography 525
  50. 43 Creative Political Geography 537
  51. 44 Mobile Methods 549
  52. 45 Life Histories 563
  53. 46 Black Feminist Literary Methods 575
  54. 47 Historical Approaches 587
  55. List of Contributors 599
  56. Index
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111289274-021

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements
  3. Contents VII
  4. 1 Introduction 1
  5. Part I: Foundations
  6. 2 The Feminist Geography Of Feminist Political Geography 18
  7. 3 Feminist Geopolitics 33
  8. 4 Intimate Geopolitics 51
  9. 5 Nationalism 65
  10. 6 De/coloniality 77
  11. 7 Decolonizing Feminist Geopolitics 89
  12. 8 Trauma 103
  13. 9 Peace 115
  14. Part II: Critical Interventions
  15. 10 Black Futurity 129
  16. 11 Racial Capitalism 141
  17. 12 Populism 153
  18. 13 Electoral Democracy 165
  19. 14 Crip Geographies 177
  20. 15 Queer Geographies 189
  21. 16 Trans Geographies 201
  22. 17 Cuerpo-Territorio 213
  23. 18 Geographies Of Technology 227
  24. 19 More-Than-Human Geographies 239
  25. 20 Austerity 251
  26. 21 Labor 263
  27. 22 Health 275
  28. 23 Environmental Justice 287
  29. Part III: Spaces
  30. 24 Territory 303
  31. 25 The Nation-State 315
  32. 26 The Border 329
  33. 27 Spaces Of Refuge And Asylum 341
  34. 28 The Body 353
  35. 29 Home 367
  36. 30 The Workplace 379
  37. 31 The City 391
  38. 32 The Rural 403
  39. 33 The Ocean 415
  40. 34 The Ship 427
  41. 35 Public Transport 439
  42. 36 Infrastructure 451
  43. 37 The Prison 461
  44. 38 Food 475
  45. Part IV: Methodologies
  46. 39 Postcolonial Positionality 487
  47. 40 Digital Methods And Community-Engaged Research 499
  48. 41 Fieldwork 511
  49. 42 Ethnography 525
  50. 43 Creative Political Geography 537
  51. 44 Mobile Methods 549
  52. 45 Life Histories 563
  53. 46 Black Feminist Literary Methods 575
  54. 47 Historical Approaches 587
  55. List of Contributors 599
  56. Index
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