Still together, after all: consensual dynamics and the persistence of the growth paradigm among left-wing groups in Italy

Fabio Battaglia and Gianmarco Fifi

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Whilst left-wing groups' increasing acceptance of fiscal austerity and anti-inflationary policies is well documented, less attention has been placed on their positions vis-à-vis the pursuit of economic growth, a key pillar of neoliberal ideology, and whether these ideas are affected during critical junctures. This article fills this gap by investigating the following questions: what are the stances of left-wing groups on the pursuit of economic growth, and do such positions persist or change in periods of economic crisis? The research focuses on Italy, a country where left-wing groups have long supported the ‘beyond GDP’ agenda and which was severely affected by the 2011 Eurozone crisis. It finds that left-wing groups see the pursuit of increasing economic growth as a prerequisite for well-being and social justice more generally. This, we argue, suggests that the endurance of the growth paradigm is primarily the result of widespread consensus rather than externally imposed constraints.

Keywords: left; economic ideas; economic growth; beyond GDP; crises (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2025-08-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gro
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Globalizations, 6, August, 2025. ISSN: 1474-7731

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/128737/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:128737

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().