 'We're Reaping What We Sowed': Everyday Crisis Narratives and Acquiescence to the Age of AusterityLiam Stanley New Political Economy, 2014, vol. 19, issue 6, 895-917 Abstract: The British public have seemingly accepted the inevitability of the Coalition-government's ambitious fiscal consolidation plan despite the fact that it may harm many. In this context of general acquiescence, many existing accounts appeal to elites: notably, how the narration of a Debt Crisis has rendered the 'age of austerity' as both a logical and common-sense response to the UK 'living beyond its means' in the pre-crisis years. Utilising the notion that elite-driven crisis narratives must resonate with the 'mood of the times', this paper analyses non-elite crisis narratives. Specifically, it looks at how homeowners from middle-class neighbourhoods justify fiscal consolidation - drawing on a series of focus group interviews to do so. It is argued that the shared popular wisdom and experiences are extrapolated from the personal to make sense of the state level - but in a way that tends to legitimise spending cuts. A key aspect to this mood of the times, it is argued, is the notion that the British public are, as one participant put it, 'reaping what we sowed'. Date: 2014 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:cnpexx:v:19:y:2014:i:6:p:895-917 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/13563467.2013.861412 Access Statistics for this article New Political Economy is currently edited by Professor Colin Hay More articles in New Political Economy from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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