Why Austerity Persists

Jon Shefner is Professor and Head of Sociology at the University of TennesseeCory Blad is Professor of Sociology at Manhattan College

• Chapter 1. Many Paths to AusterityChapter 2. From Development to the Lost Decade in Latin AmericaChapter 3. African AusterityChapter 4. Austerity in Asia and OceaniaChapter 5. The United States and the Inevitability of AusterityChapter 6. Austerity Lands in the European UnionChapter 7. Why Austerity PersistsBibliography

“The aggressive form of capitalism we call neoliberalism has spread across the globe, shoring up profits as earnings are whittled away and government supports are rolled back. This illuminating book helps to explain how this new kind of capitalism has unfolded in societies that are otherwise utterly different. You will want to read it to understand our current troubles.”Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York “This volume takes us on a highly instructive whirlwind tour of austerity on five continents. The result is an indispensable account of what is wrong with the ideas, the rules, and the institutions that govern today’s global economy.”Fred Block, University of California, Davis “Shefner and Blad render us the service of clarifying the roots and the consequences of austerity. Their analysis is worth reading and engaging with.”Alejandro Portes, Princeton University“The analytical dynamics and repertoire of the book are impressive, a fact that is reflected in the way the argument on the persistence of austerity empirically plays out. […] This argument is exceptionally made [as] Shefner and Blad advance the idea of hegemony of austerity without beneficiaries.”American Journal of Sociology“Shefner and Blad maintain that, while austerity has persisted, it is not inevitable. There are genuine progressive alternatives that anti-austerity social movements could fight for to push their countries toward greater national sovereignty for formulating economic policies.”Dollars and Sense