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Making sense of austerity: The rationality in an irrational system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Bill Dunn
Bill Dunn*
Affiliation:
The University of Sydney, Australia
*
Bill Dunn, Department of Political Economy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Email: bill.dunn@Sydney.edu.au
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Abstract

This article understands contemporary austerity through historical comparisons informed by Marxist insights into the nature of the state. It argues that austerity policies make sense from the perspective of capital–labour, inter-capitalist and international competition. Differences among states over time, in terms of their size and international situation and contested domestic relations, produce varied imperatives towards austerity and prospects of effective resistance.

Keywords

B51E60H11AusterityMarxism
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 25 , Issue 3: Special issue - Crisis, Austerity, Neoliberalism and alternatives , September 2014 , pp. 417 - 434
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2014

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