Disrupting the European Crisis: A Critical Political Economy of Contestation, Subversion and Escape

Abstract

Central to much of the critical political economy (CPE) literature is a declared focus on emancipation. Yet, rather than highlight sources and instances of activity that might result in emancipatory outcomes, much of the CPE literature focuses on relations of domination and the way in which these are sustained and (re)produced. In contrast, and drawing on 'minoritarian' strands of CPE, we argue that an emancipation-oriented approach needs to focus upon the ways in which processes of domination are contested, disrupted, and as a result remain incomplete. In doing so, we present an analysis of the European political and economic crisis that contrasts starkly with prevailing accounts. Whilst many observers have considered the European crisis in terms that signal the death knell of labour's prolonged post-1970s defeat, the paper instead renders visible the ongoing disruptive effects of the European populace's obstinate, subversive and creative capacity to escape those attempts to achieve domination and subjugation which existing accounts tend to identify.

Contesting Actually Existing Austerity

“…It therefore follows Huke et al (2015) to some extent in understanding the political economy by exploring how it is contested and disrupted. Housing in Spain may seem a counterintuitive choice because it is not directly related to fiscal consolidation issues such as public sector pay, pensions, public services or welfare provisions.…”

Constructing solidarity as resistive and creative agency in austerity Greece

“…Following recent scholarship that calls for interpretations of crises through looking into the very same forms through which these are being contested, subverted, embodied and narrated by people and communities (Derickson et al 2015, Featherstone et al 2015, Hadjimichalis and Hudson 2014, Huke et al 2015, the remaining part of this paper shifts the focus towards emergent resistance and solidarity practices in Greece (and especially Athens). This analytical shift, from domination to resistance practices, enriches our understandings of the multiple, fluid and, at times, ÔinvisibleÕ forms of contestation.…”

“…The latter debates are considered crucial as they strive to shift the focus of critical analysis from domination to emancipation and bring forward the always incomplete, hence contested, character of the neoliberal project. Furthermore, the goal is to nuance the role of emergent subjectivities, either oppositional/ resistive to austerity and crises or otherwise, as constitutive of the development of context-specific neoliberalism(s) and Ôactually existing resistance(s)Õ (Huke et al 2015). Based on these, this paper draws on the Greek context to discuss emergent forms of contestation to austerity politics, as manifested Ôfrom belowÕ since 2010.…”

“…Nevertheless, as recent scholarship stressed (Hadjimichalis and Hudson 2014, Derickson et al 2015, Featherstone et al 2015, Huke et al 2015) these fall short in analytical interpretations of the ways and means grassroots movements disrupt, contest and subvert crises Ôfrom belowÕ and their potential in producing resistive agency. The latter debates are considered crucial as they strive to shift the focus of critical analysis from domination to emancipation and bring forward the always incomplete, hence contested, character of the neoliberal project.…”

Critical Political Economy

“…At the same time, as most critical political economy perspectives emphasise the changing nature of hegemony, or domination in European integration, more recent contributions contest this focus on "power from above", and instead focus on the politicisation of everyday life in Europe, new forms of solidarities and alternative organisation of socio-economic structures (Huke et al 2015;Bailey et al 2017). While even social movement studies have realised that capitalism needs to be an integral part of the analysis (della Porta 2015), CPE is attempting to understand and capture the social reality of the increasing contestation, disruption and autonomous organization within Europe in the context of the economic crisis.…”