The economic crisis of 2007/2008 presented a challenge to the welfare state in the UK, and, more widely, across Europe. It also presented a challenge to many citizens, who were on the receiving end of the austerity agenda, and subsequent tightening of welfare spending. If nothing else, the financial crisis demonstrated the hegemony of economic theories prominent in neoliberal capitalism. As many academics and commentators have identified, however, the current period of instability is indicative of a systemic crisis. In addition to this analysis, the crisis also exposed the intricate and opaque links between western governments and the financial sector. During and after the crisis an eruption of activity in civil society galvanized many that had been directly affected by either the crisis itself—through loss of employment—or by the subsequent austerity measures imposed. This article aims to examine the current crisis affecting the welfare state in the UK, and social policy more broadly, and, begins to suggest how social movements are seeking to challenge the dominant discourses surrounding austerity politics. The article suggests some reasons as to why traditional forms of resistance and organization—such as the mobilizations of the trade union movement—have largely been unsuccessful in challenging such narratives. The article concludes by considering the shift from trade unionism in the UK to post-crisis social movements, and where an anti-austerity movement more broadly might develop further in pursuit of defending the principles of social welfare, and, ultimately, the welfare state.
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Neil Carrier and Gordon Mathews
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Eugene N. Anderson, Jodie Asselin, Jessica diCarlo, Ritwick Ghosh, Michelle Hak Hepburn, Allison Koch, and Lindsay Vogt
: Struggles Over Farming in an Age of Free Trade . Seattle: University of Washington Press. 272 pp. ISBN 978-0-295-74311-0. Guntra Aistara's Organic Sovereignties: Struggles Over Farming in an Age of Free Trade is a comparative study of organic agriculture
The Territorialization of Vietnam's Northern Upland Frontier
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Sarah Turner, Thi-Thanh-Hien Pham, and Ngô Thúy Hạnh
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Dirty Work, Dangerous Others
The Politics of Outsourced Immigration Enforcement in Mexico
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Melissa Phillips
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Migration, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Knowledge
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Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Juliano Fiori
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Lauren Drakopulos
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