Commentary

Uneven development, the politics of scale, or global austerity?

in Focaal
Author:
Ida Susser CUNY Graduate Center isusser@hunter.cuny.edu

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/fcl.2019.830106
Keywords:
austerity; globalization; resistance; scale; social movements; structural adjustment
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Abstract

This afterword discusses the analysis of “austerity” and globalization and the possible parallels between a history of structural adjustment policies in the Global South combined with further cuts in social funding of recent years with the experience of “austerity” in Europe following the 2008 economic crisis. Questions with respect to the ways in which uneven development and the history of colonialism might complicate the experience in the Global South despite parallel governing strategies are raised. In addition, I suggest the consideration of scale in terms of the implementation of global versus national or local policies, the different scales at which resistance occurs, and the historical circumstances in which classes or subaltern groups coalesce might be important further considerations in this analysis.

Contributor Notes

Ida Susser, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center, has conducted ethnographic research with respect to urban social movements and the urban commons in the United States and Europe, as well as with respect to the gendered politics, local, national, and global of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City, Puerto Rico, and Southern Africa. Her book The Tumultuous Politics of Scale, coedited with Don Nonini, is forthcoming. Other books include Updated Norman Street: Poverty and Politics in an Urban Neighborhood, and AIDS, Sex and Culture: Global Politics and Survival in Southern Africa. Email: isusser@hunter.cuny.edu

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Focaal

Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology

Cover Focaal
Article Category:
Other
Page Count:
5
Keywords:
austerity; globalization; resistance; scale; social movements; structural adjustment
Print Publication Date:
01 Mar 2019
Online Publication Date:
01 Mar 2019
Copyright:
© Stichting Focaal and Berghahn Books 2019

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