Policy Press
10 Austerity-induced populism: the rise and transformation of the new right
Abstract
Public and academic discussions in the European Union often relate to two processes, the interaction of which requires some clarification. One is the rise and mode of operation of neoliberalism, particularly, the establishment and implementation of an austerity agenda, that is, efforts to consolidate public budgets through spending cuts (Hermann 2007). This process started in the late 1970s and became more pervasive in most member states since then. Consequently, the austerity policy guidelines were enshrined as an important component of the European treaties. Furthermore, they were made even stricter in the transition from the financial to the so-called sovereign debt crisis. The second process is the strengthening of right-wing populism in the member states of the European Union (Kriesi 2014). This process also began in the 1970s with the foundation of Progress Parties in Scandinavia, the Vlaams Belang in Belgium, the Swiss People’s Party and the Front National (FN) in France, all, more or less, with an ethno-nationalist orientation and a critical attitude to the comprehensive, centralized welfare state. This policy stance, extended by a critique of European integration, was also adopted by a second group of parties founded since the late 1980s: the Lega Nord in Italy, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in Britain, the Sweden Democrats, the True Fins, or the newly oriented Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) in Austria. Finally, the 2000s saw a third foundation wave – the Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV) in the Netherlands, the Polish Party Prawo I Sprawiedliwosc (PiS), or Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany – all further hostile to immigration and Islam, but less determined in terms of economic and welfare policies.
Abstract
Public and academic discussions in the European Union often relate to two processes, the interaction of which requires some clarification. One is the rise and mode of operation of neoliberalism, particularly, the establishment and implementation of an austerity agenda, that is, efforts to consolidate public budgets through spending cuts (Hermann 2007). This process started in the late 1970s and became more pervasive in most member states since then. Consequently, the austerity policy guidelines were enshrined as an important component of the European treaties. Furthermore, they were made even stricter in the transition from the financial to the so-called sovereign debt crisis. The second process is the strengthening of right-wing populism in the member states of the European Union (Kriesi 2014). This process also began in the 1970s with the foundation of Progress Parties in Scandinavia, the Vlaams Belang in Belgium, the Swiss People’s Party and the Front National (FN) in France, all, more or less, with an ethno-nationalist orientation and a critical attitude to the comprehensive, centralized welfare state. This policy stance, extended by a critique of European integration, was also adopted by a second group of parties founded since the late 1980s: the Lega Nord in Italy, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in Britain, the Sweden Democrats, the True Fins, or the newly oriented Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) in Austria. Finally, the 2000s saw a third foundation wave – the Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV) in the Netherlands, the Polish Party Prawo I Sprawiedliwosc (PiS), or Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany – all further hostile to immigration and Islam, but less determined in terms of economic and welfare policies.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and tables v
- Notes on contributors vii
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Austerity and the promotion of the private
- Beyond austerity: pro-public strategies versus public-private partnership scandals 25
- Institutionalizing austerity accounting in Europe: the implementation of European Public Sector Accounting Standards as crisis response 42
-
Coping and casualties: labour and the social
- A fragile triangle: collective bargaining systems, trade unions and the state in the EU 63
- Privatizing the sacrifice: individualized funding, austerity and precarity in the voluntary sector in Australia and Scotland 82
- Austerity and the social innovation agenda 103
-
Beyond coping: protest, pathologies and the development of real alternatives
- Politics as an alternative to constitutionalization 127
- There could be alternatives! German economic advisory councils and the institutional reproduction of austerity economics 147
- Negotiated austerity? A comparative survey of social concertation in Canada, Denmark, Ireland and Spain 176
- Market populism, its right-wing offspring and left alternatives 195
- Austerity-induced populism: the rise and transformation of the new right 213
- Reducing the burden: international struggles against illegitimate debt 230
- The crisis next time: the GFC and the continuing fragility of capitalism 248
- Austerity after COVID-19: from emergency pragmatism to inclusive economic governance in Europe 272
- Conclusion 292
- Index 301
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and tables v
- Notes on contributors vii
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Austerity and the promotion of the private
- Beyond austerity: pro-public strategies versus public-private partnership scandals 25
- Institutionalizing austerity accounting in Europe: the implementation of European Public Sector Accounting Standards as crisis response 42
-
Coping and casualties: labour and the social
- A fragile triangle: collective bargaining systems, trade unions and the state in the EU 63
- Privatizing the sacrifice: individualized funding, austerity and precarity in the voluntary sector in Australia and Scotland 82
- Austerity and the social innovation agenda 103
-
Beyond coping: protest, pathologies and the development of real alternatives
- Politics as an alternative to constitutionalization 127
- There could be alternatives! German economic advisory councils and the institutional reproduction of austerity economics 147
- Negotiated austerity? A comparative survey of social concertation in Canada, Denmark, Ireland and Spain 176
- Market populism, its right-wing offspring and left alternatives 195
- Austerity-induced populism: the rise and transformation of the new right 213
- Reducing the burden: international struggles against illegitimate debt 230
- The crisis next time: the GFC and the continuing fragility of capitalism 248
- Austerity after COVID-19: from emergency pragmatism to inclusive economic governance in Europe 272
- Conclusion 292
- Index 301
