Anti-austerity movement

The anti-austerity movement refers to the mobilization of street protests and grassroots that has occurred across various countries, especially in Europe , since the onset of the world Great Recession .

Anti-austerity actions are varied and ongoing, and can be sporadic and loosely organized and long-term and tightly organized. They continue as of the present day. The global Occupy movement has arguably been the most noticeable physical enactment of anti-austerity and populist sentiment.

Ireland

An example of countries implementing severe austerity measures is Ireland . Ireland Witnessed icts housing market completely Call (Rather than, as elsewhere, Partially) collapse, and the government Eventually Had to apply for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Agreeing to an austerity program of economic reform in exchange. The austerity measures and the terms of the Mauritanian bailout became major aspects of the Irish financial crisis, and populist anger over these issues played a major role in the loss of governmental power of Fianna Fáil to opposition parties in the 2011 Irish general election. The loss for Fianna Fáil was so great that many commentators remarked that the results were „historic“. Fine Gael and the Labor Party formed a coalition government , and Fine Gael promised to re-negotiate the terms of the MFI bailout end the austerity program. ^[1] Sinn Féin , who for the first time won a significant percentage in the election, called for a nationwide referendum on whether the bailout agreement should be scrapped altogether. Labor dismissed this idea. ^[2] Members of smaller parties, such as the Socialists , the People Before Profit Alliance , the WUAG and Independentsinvolved themselves in the Campaign Against Home and Water Taxes . ^[3]

Political impact

Since the onset of the economic recession in Europe , the political establishment has been focused on austerity. ^[4] The anti-austerity movement has responded to a wave of anti-establishment political parties. ^[5] Opposition to austerity is seen in Podemos in Spain, Italy’s Five Star Movement and the Syriza party in Greece. ^[6]

Ahead of the Scottish Independence Referendum in 2014, the Scottish Government pledged to austerity in an independent Scotland. ^[7]

Economist Thomas Piketty welcomed the political reaction to austerity, saying the rise of anti-austerity is „good news for Europe“. According to Piketty, European countries are trying to get rid of their deficits too quickly, resulting in a situation where their citizens have suffered from the consequences of austerity policies. economic recovery, but here, growth has been killed off. “ ^[8]

Examples

• The global Occupy movement .
• The May-July 2011 Greek protests , also known as the „Indignant Citizens Movement“ or the „Greek indignados“, started demonstrating throughout Greece on 25 May 2011; ^[9] The movement’s largest demonstration was on June 5, with 300,000 people gathering in front of the Greek Parliament , ^[10] while the organizers put the number to 500,000. ^[11] The protests lasted for a violent month, while on 29 June 2011, a violent police crackdown and accusations of police brutality by international media and Amnesty International , ^{[12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17][18]} the square was evacuated but demonstrations continued the next day despite the crackdown; ^{[19] [20] but} they ended on 7 August 2011, ^[21] but resumed in October.
• The 2011 Spanish protests , whose participants are sometimes referred to as “ indignados „, are a series of ongoing anti-austerity demonstrations in Spain that rose to prominence beginning on 15 May 2011; thus, the movement is also referred to as the May 15 or M-15 movement as well. It is a collection of Several different instances of continuous demonstrations countrywide, with a common origin in Internet social networks and the Democracia Real Yaweb presence, along with 200 other small associations. ^[22]
• In late March 2011 the Portuguese Prime Minister resigned a few hours after the latest austerity bill backed by the rest of government. The government called that particular austerity round unacceptable. ^[23] In his resignation speech, José Sócrates expressed concern that an IMF bailout akin to Greece and Ireland would now be unavoidable.
• In mid-March 2011 the British Medical Association held an emergency meeting at which it was widely proposed that the British Parliament , the Health and Social Care Bill , would overhaul the functioning of the National Health Service . Dr. Layla Jader, a public health physician, said: „The NHS needs evolution not revolution – these reforms are very much a threat to the future of the NHS. ? “ And Dr. Barry Miller, anaethetist from Bolton , added: „The potential to do phenomenal damage is profound.“^[24] There have been various grassroots groups of UK citizens, including NHS Direct Action, ^[25] 38 Degrees, ^[26] and the trade union Unite . ^[27]
• The 2010 UK student protests the force of one of the United Kingdom’s most severe austerity measures. On 9 December 2010 spending for Higher Education and tuition subsidies and support in English universities – Historically Rather substantial businesses in scale – was cut by a total of 80%. ^[28] That announcement and its implications, which included a near-tripling of tuition fees from their previous levels ^[29]up to a new ceiling of £ 9000 / year the Conservative headquarters and smashed windows and destroyed its interior. ^[30] On the day of the passage of the passage itself, there was an explosion of street violence by enraged students and their allies, especially in London. There is an ongoing law enforcement investigation into, and even active pursing of, ^[31]The participants of the violence against the various protesters, with particular attention focused on the protesters successfully attacked a London event, ^[32] although they did not insure their occupants. Shouts of „off with their heads“ have been reportedly heard. ^[26] On March 25, 2011, Charlie Gilmour, son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour , became one of the most prominent people in the world. ^[34]As a result of these protests, a number of groups formed to combat the austerity measures that began with the cuts to higher education. One such example is Bloomsbury Fightback !, which is a group of radical students and workers in Bloomsbury, London , centered on the Bloomsbury Colleges in the University of London and focused on organizing and educating the population. austerity measures.
• The group UK Uncut is one outgrowth of the anger felt by the average citizen at austerity, the group focuses on the combating of the cuts themselves as it’s demanding that the rich, rather than the poor, pay the shortfalls the austerity in the first place – a lot of „tax the rich“ movement. Uncut attempts to organize flash mob protests inside the highest-profile buildings of the businesses
• The protesters (but before the passing of the bill), students in Italy occupied the leaning tower of Pisa in a similar protest against its own educational system. ^[35]
• On 27 November 2010, a massive protest against pending austerity took place in Dublin ; ^[36] The Irish Examiner news service also reports on a December 7, 2010 clash around the Dáil where protesters threw smoke bombs and flares at police. ^[37] Additionally, La Scala in Italy experienced a clash on December 8, 2010 including scuffles with police. ^[38]
• More Generally, Throughout 2009 and 2010, workers and students in Greece and other European countries Demonstrated contre cuts to pensions, public services and education spending as a result of government austerity Measures. ^[39] There was a brief airport strike in Spain in December 2010, and assorted brief „general strike“ -like actions in France have taken place, particularly around the very controversial plan of the French government to raise the retirement age of 60 to 62 , a proposal which will eventually be successful.
• Further protests taken place in Greece , Portugal and the UK have continued throughout 2011 and 2012, ^[40] including in Nigeria with major broad-based clashes against the withdrawal of fuel subsidies . There was also a major protest in London by the United Kingdom on March 26, 2011, ^{[41] which is} centered on a protest call initially made by the Trades Union Congress .
• Participants in more than 1.500 people out of the estimated 250,000-500,000 total participants, have been relentlessly attacked by the government as „mindless thugs“ ^[42] with the UK’s mainstream media including the BBCgenerally supporting this perception. This remains the case even though the fundamental seriousness of damage thus far remains debatable; Seems To-have much reporting Focused on the smashing of a Santander bankbranch’s glass entranceway doors Largely by anarchist activists, Who Would Have aussi beens behind the simultaneous destruction of Several automated teller machineand the scrawling of “ class war “ in graffiti on neighbouring walls.
• By July 2014 is still anger and protests in Greece about the austerity measures implemented, with a 24-hour strike among government workers on July 9, 2014, timed to coincide with an audit by the International Monetary Fund Inspectors, the European Union and European Central Bank. ^[43] Protests continued and, indeed, escalated in Ireland in 2014, as the deputy prime minister, even being „kidnapped“. ^[44]

• 8 March 2015 – On International Women’s Day, feminist groups got together in Quebec City , Canada to protest against the austerity measures announced by the Couillard government. ^[45]The goal of the protest is to raise awareness of the impact of austerity policies in the area of ​​inequality in the economy. Since the economic crisis of 2008, $ 23 billion has been cut from the Quebec economy. ^[46] A study conducted by IRIS (Institute for Socio-Economic Research and Information) showed that $ 13 trillion of these cuts impacted women more specifically, in comparison to $ 3 trillion for men. ^[47]The PQI (Quebec Infrastructure Plan) and by introducing the Plan Nord . ^[47] The areas where the most cuts can be seen in the field of health care, education and public services. ^[48] The protest was held in front of the Treasury Board offices. Women from the CRMMF (Regional Coalition of the Global March of Women) Threw hundreds of belts at the office doors to symbolize that women are tired of having to tighten their belts. ^[49] In response to the protest Mrs. Alexa Conradi, President of the Quebec Women’s FederationThis article is only available in English , French and Greek . ^[49]
• 19 March 2015 – German demonstrators clashed with police at an anti-austerity protests during the inauguration ceremony for the European Central Bank’s new headquarters in Frankfurt. Police put up barricades and barbed wire around the bank headquarters as they are braced for demonstrations against government austerity measures and capitalism. Protests targeted the ECB because of the bank’s role in overseeing efforts to restrain spending and reduce debt in Greece financially troubled countries such as Greece. ^[50]
• 20 June 2015 – „Westminster was gripped by dissent on Saturday, as a quarter of a million protestors poured onto the streets of London, condemning austerity’s assault on human rights, the economy and the environment …“ Jo Michell, lecturer in economics At the University of the West of England, it is stated that „Austerity is being used as a smokescreen to cover an ideologically-driven attack on the majority of the British public. “ ‚End Austerity Now‘: Protesters speak out as ‚250k‘ decry savage Westminster cuts. Russia Today, 21 June 2015
• March 31st, 2016 – Standing Night , El Khomri Law , March 31st, 2016.

Outlook

Some economists, like Nobel Prize winning Princeton economist Paul Krugman , argue that austerity measures tend to be counterproductive when applied to populations and programs they are usually applied to. ^[51] The fact que le political sphere has-been so Heavily Influenced by a paper Known As “ Growth in a Time of Debt “ based on flawed methodology HAS led to Krugman argues: ^[52]

What the Reinhart-Rogoff affair shows is the extent to which austerity has been sold on false pretenses. For three years, the turn to austerity has been presented. Economic interest, austerity advocates insisted, showed that terrible things happened 90 percent of GDP goal „economic research“ showed no such thing; a couple of economists made that assertion, while many others disagreed. Policy Makers abandoned because they wanted to, because they had to.

In October 2012, the International Monetary Fund announced that it has consistently applied overptimistic forecasts. ^[53]

References