The erosion of southern Europe’s middle-classes: debt, insecurity and the political economy of austerity

Titolo Rivista SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI
Autori/Curatori Theo Papadopoulos, Antonios Roumpakis
Anno di pubblicazione 2017 Fascicolo 2017/2
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 23 P. 67-89 Dimensione file 291 KB
DOI 10.3280/SP2017-002005
Il DOI è il codice a barre della proprietà intellettuale: per saperne di più clicca qui

Qui sotto puoi vedere in anteprima la prima pagina di questo articolo.

Se questo articolo ti interessa, lo puoi acquistare (e scaricare in formato pdf) seguendo le facili indicazioni per acquistare il download credit. Acquista Download Credits per scaricare questo Articolo in formato PDF

Anteprima articolo

FrancoAngeli è membro della Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA)associazione indipendente e non profit per facilitare (attraverso i servizi tecnologici implementati da CrossRef.org) l’accesso degli studiosi ai contenuti digitali nelle pubblicazioni professionali e scientifiche

Our article examines the position of middle-classes in the social reproduction of southern European (SE) political economies in light of the sovereign debt crisis. The first part analyzes the rise of SE middle-classes in the 1980s and 1990s. The second part discusses the transformation of SE political economies after their entry in the European Monetary Union. The third part explores how the austerity measures adopted as a response to the sovereign debt crisis contributed to the further undermining of SE middleclasses’ income and employment security. We discuss how the new European economic governance challenges the politico-economic foundations of SE political economies by transforming them into de-facto "consolidation states" (Streeck 2013).

Keywords:Middle-class; Austerity; Debt; Insecurity; South Europe

  1. Albertini, M., Kohli, M. and Vogel, C. 2007. Intergenerational Transfers of Time and Money in European Families: Common Patterns – Different Regimes? Journal of European Social Policy, 17(4), pp. 319-334.
  2. Allen, J., Barlow, J., Leal, J. Maloutas, T. and Padovani, L. 2004. Housing &Welfare in Southern Europe. Oxford: Blackwell.
  3. Atkinson, A. B. and Brandolini, A. 2013. On the Identification of the Middle-Class. In J. Gornick and M. Jäntti eds. Income Inequality: Economic Disparities and the Middle-Class in Affluent Countries, pp. 77-100. Stanford, CA: California University Press.
  4. Bakker, I. and Silvey, R. eds. 2012. Beyond States and Markets: The Challenges ofSocial Reproduction. London: Routledge.
  5. Banerjee, A.V. and Duflo, E. 2008. What is Middle-Class About the Middle-Classes Around the World?. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(2), pp. 3-41.
  6. Barbier, J.-C. 2012. Tracing the Fate of EU “Social Policy”: Changes in Political Discourse from the “Lisbon Strategy” to “Europe 2020”. International Labour Review, 151(4), pp. 377-399.
  7. Baumeister, M. and Sala, R., 2015. A Long Road South. Southern Europe as a Discursive Construction and Historical Region after 1945. In M. Baumeister and R. Sala eds. Southern Europe?: Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece from the 1950s Until the Present day, pp. 19-50. Frankfurt-on-Main: Campus Verlag.
  8. Bernaciak, M. and Muller, T. 2013. Austerity Policies and the Changing Context of Collective Bargaining in Europe. Benchmarking Working Europe 2013:ETUI.
  9. Bigot, R., Croutte, P., Muller, J. and Osier, G. 2012. The Middle-Classes in Europe: Evidence from the LIS Data. Luxembourg: Luxembourg Income Study Working Paper Series, No. 580.
  10. Bigot, R., Croutte, P. and Müller, J. 2011. Middle-Classes in Europe – Synthesis Note. Paris: Le Centre de recherche pour l’étude et l’observation desconditions de vie (CRÉDOC), December.
  11. Blome, A., Keck, W. and Alber, J. 2010. Family and The Welfare State In Europe: Intergenerational Relations in Ageing Societies. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  12. Bonefeld, W. 2015. European Economic Constitution and the Transformation of Democracy: On Class and the State of Law. European Journal of International Relations, 21(4), pp. 867-886.
  13. Bricco, P. 2017. A Divided Italy Becomes Even More So Ten Years After the Start of the Great Crisis, ItalyEurope24, 14th January. Available from:http://www.italy24.ilsole24ore.com/art/business-and-economy/2017-0113/inchiesta-sud-132528.php?uuid=AD8X3qXC [Accessed 31st May2017].
  14. Busch, K., Hermann, C., Hinrichs, K. and Schulten, T. 2013. Euro Crisis, AusterityPolicy and the European Social Model: How Crisis Policies in Southern Europe Threaten the EU's Social Dimension. Berlin: Friedrich EbertStiftung.
  15. Chilcote, R.H., 1984. Theories of Development and Underdevelopment. Boulder,CO: Westview Press.
  16. Chilcote, R.H., Hadjiyannis, S., Fred III, A., Nataf, D. and Sammis, E. 1990.Transitions from Dictatorship to Democracy: Domparative Studies ofSpain, Portugal and Greece. London: Taylor & Francis.
  17. Chilcote, R.H. and Johnson, D.L. eds.1983. Theories of Development: Mode of Production or Dependency?. Beverly Hills: Sage.
  18. Collignon, S. and Espositi, P. 2014. Measuring European Competitiveness at the Sectoral Level. Brussels: ETUI.
  19. Copelovitch, M., Frieden, J. and Walter, S., 2016. The Political Economy of the Euro Crisis. Comparative Political Studies, 49(7), pp.811-840.
  20. Crouch, C. 2009. Privatised Keynesianism: An Unacknowledged Policy Regime. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 11(3), pp.382 399.
  21. Dallinger, U., 2013. The Endangered Middle-Class? A Comparative Analysis of the Role Played by Income Redistribution. Journal of European Social Policy, 23(1), pp.83-101.
  22. Degryse, C., Jepsen, M. and Pochet, P. 2013. The Euro Crisis and Its Impact on National and European Social Policies. Brussels: ETUI.
  23. European Council 2012. Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance -Eurozone. Brussel: European Council.
  24. Eurostat. 2017. Unemployment Statistics. Available from:http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statisticsexplained/index.php/Unemploymentstatistics [Accessed 31st May 2017].
  25. Feher, M. 2016. The Life and Time of the European Consolidation State – An Interview with Wolfgang Streeck. Near Futures Online. 1, pp. 1-8. Available from: http://nearfuturesonline.org/the-life-and-time-of-the-european-consolidation-state/ [Accessed 31st May 2017].
  26. Ferrera, M. 1996. The Southern Model of Welfare in Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 6(1), pp. 17-37.
  27. – 2005. Welfare State Reform in Southern Europe. London: Routledge.
  28. – 2007. Democratisation and Social Policy in Southern Europe. In Y.Bangura ed. Democracy and Social Policy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  29. Gerbaudo, P. 2017. The Indignant Citizen: Anti-Austerity Movements in SouthernEurope and the Anti-Oligarchic Reclaiming of Citizenship. Social Movement Studies, 16(1), pp.36-50.
  30. Gill, S. 2016. Transnational Class Formations, European Crisis and the Silent Revolution, Critical Sociology, 1-17.
  31. Gonzalez, P., Figueiredo, A., Figueiredo, H. and Santos, L. D. 2016. Still Holding On? Inequality, Labour Market and Middle-Income Groups in Portugal. In D. Vaughan-Whitehead ed. Europe's Disappearing Middle-class? Evidence from the World of Work, pp. 441-494. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  32. Gornick, J. and Jäntti, M. eds. 2014. Income Inequality: Economic Disparities and the Middle-Class in Affluent Countries. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  33. Hadjimichalis, C. and Vaiou, D. 1990. Whose Flexibility? The Politics of Informalization in Southern Europe. Capital and Class, 42, pp. 79-106. Hopkin, J. 2012. Clientelism, Corruption and Political Cartels: Informal Governance in Southern Europe. In T. Christiansen and C. Neuhold, C eds. International Handbook on Informal Governance, pp.198-218. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  34. Jimeno, J. F. and Toharia, L. 1994. Unemployment and Labour Market Flexibility: Spain. In J.F. Jimeno and L. Toharia ed. Employment Series. Geneva: ILO.
  35. Karamessini, M. 2007. The Southern European Social Model: Changes and Continuities in Recent Decades. Geneva: ILO.
  36. Kochhar, R. 2017. Middle-class Fortunes in Western Europe. Pew Research Center Report.
  37. Leitner, S. 2003. Varieties of Familialism: The Caring Function of the Family in Comparative Perspective. European societies, 5(4), pp.353-375.
  38. Luengo, Ó.G., Marín, J.G. and Fernández-García, B. 2016. Emergent Anti Establishment Political Parties in Europe: Exploring Lessons from Southern Europe. Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft, 9(4), pp.251-266.
  39. Matthijs, M. 2014. Mediterranean Blues: the Crisis in Southern Europe. Journal of Democracy, 25(1), pp.101-115.
  40. Magone, J.M. 2003. The Politics of Southern Europe: Integration Into the European Union. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.
  41. Malefakis, E. 1992. Southern Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries: An Historical Overview. Working Paper No. 35 Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Ciencias Sociales.
  42. Marginson, P. 2015. Coordinated Bargaining in Europe: From Incremental Corrosion to Frontal Assault? European Journal of Industrial Relations, 21(2), pp. 97-114.
  43. Martin, C. 2015. Southern Welfare States: Configuration of the Welfare Balance Between State and the Family. In M. Baumeister and R. Sala eds. Southern Europe?: Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece from the 1950s Until the Present day, pp.77-100.Frankfurt-on-Main: Campus Verlag.
  44. Mau, S. 2015. Inequality, Marketization and the Majority Class: Why Did the European Middle-Classes Accept Neo-Liberalism? London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  45. Mingione, E. 1995. Labour Market Segmentation and Informal Work in Southern Europe. European Urban and Regional Studies, 2(2), pp. 121-143.
  46. Moreno, L., 2006. The Model of Social Protection in Southern Europe. Revue française des Affaires sociales, (5), pp.073-095.
  47. Moreira, A., Domínguez, Á. A., Antunes, C., Karamessini, M.,Raitano, M. and Glatzer, M. 2015. Austerity-Driven Labour Market Reforms in Southern Europe: Eroding the Security of Labour Market Insiders. European Journal of Social Security, 17(2), pp. 202-225.
  48. Muñoz-De-Bustillo, R. and Antón, J. I. 2016. Knocking on Heaven’s Door: Changes in the World of Work and the Middle-class in Spain. In D. Vaughan Whitehead ed. Europe's Disappearing Middle-class? Evidence from the World of Work , pp. 495-542. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  49. Papadopoulos, T. 2006. Support for the Unemployed in a Familistic Welfare Regime. In E. Mossialos and Μ. Petmesidou eds. Social Policy Developments in Greece, pp. 219-238. Aldershot: Ashgate.
  50. Papadopoulos, T. and Roumpakis, A. 2012. The Greek Welfare State in the Age of Austerity: Anti-Social Policy and the Politic-Economic Crisis. In M. Kilkey, G. Ramia and K. Farnsworth eds. Social Policy Review 24: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy, pp. 205-230. Bristol: Policy Press.
  51. – 2013. Familistic Welfare Capitalism in Crisis: Social Reproduction and Anti-Social Policy in Greece. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 29 (3): pp. 204-224.
  52. – 2015. Democracy, Austerity and Crisis: Southern Europe and the Decline of the European Social Model. In S. Romano and G. Punziano eds. The European Social Model Adrift, pp. 189-211. Aldershot: Ashgate.
  53. – forthcoming. Contesting Europe's Ordo liberal Iron Cage: Southern Europe and the Popular Revolt Against Austerity. Critical Social Policy 22(2), pp. 275-294.
  54. Petmesidou, M. 1991. Statism, Social Policy and the Middle-Classes in Greece. Journal of European Social Policy 1(1), pp. 31-48.
  55. –1998. Social Change and the Risks of Social Exclusion in Greece: How Do the Middle-Classes Fare?. In B. Steijn, J. Berting and M. J. de Jong. eds. Economic Eestructuring and the Growing Uncertainty of the Middle-Class, pp. 115-133. New York: Springer US.
  56. – 2006. Tracking Social Protection: Origins, Path Peculiarity, Impasses and Prospects. In M. Petmesidou and E. Mossialos eds. Social Policy Developments in Greece, pp. 25-54. Aldershot: Ashgate.
  57. – 2011. What Future for the Middle-Classes and Inclusive Solidarity in South Europe? Global Social Policy, 11(2-3), pp. 225-227.
  58. Payne, S.G. 1986. The Concept of Southern Europe and Political Development. Mediterranean Historical Review, 1(1), pp.100-116. Quaglia, L. and Royo, S. 2015. Banks and the Political Economy of the Sovereign Debt Crisis in Italy and Spain. Review of International Political Economy, 22(3), pp. 485-507.
  59. Scott, R.H. and Pressman, S. 2011. A Double Squeeze on the Middle-Class. Journal of Economic Issues, 45(2), pp.333-342.
  60. Rangone, M. and Solari, S. 2012. From the Southern-European Model to Nowhere: the Evolution of Italian Capitalism, 1976–2011. Journal of European Public Policy, 19(8), pp. 1188-1206.
  61. Rhodes, M. 1997. Southern European Welfare States: Identity, Problems and Prospects for Reform. In M. Rhodes ed. Southern European Welfare States: Between Crisis and Reform, pp. 1-22. London: Cass/Routledge.
  62. – 2015. Southern Europe in Social Science. A Southern European Model?. In M. Baumeister and R. Sala eds. Southern Europe?: Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece from the 1950s Until the Present Day, pp. 51-76. Frankfurt-on Main: Campus Verlag.
  63. Roumpakis, A. and Papadopoulos, T. 2017. From Social Regulation of Competition to Competition as Social Regulation: Transformations in the Socio-Economic Governance of the European Union. In D. Horsfall and J. Hudson eds. Social Policy in an Era of Competition: From Global to Local Perspectives, Bristol: Policy Press.
  64. Sacchi, S. 2015. Conditionality by Other Means: EU Involvement in Italy's Structural Reforms in the Sovereign Debt Crisis. Contemporary European Politics, 13(1), pp. 77-92.
  65. Sánchez, M.-T. B. and Consultores, R. 2017. Spain: Labour Market Mobility as Safety valve?. In A. Schellinger ed. Brain Drain-Brain Gain: European Labour Market in Times of Crisis, pp. 59-70. Friedrich Ebert Stifung.
  66. Sapelli, G. 1995. Southern Europe Since 1945: Tradition and Modernity in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey. London and New York: Longman.
  67. Schäfer, A. and Streeck, W. 2013. Introduction: Politics in the Age of Austerity. In A. Schäfer and W. Streeck eds. The Politics in the Age of Austerity, pp. 1 25. Cambridge: Polity.
  68. Scharpf, F. W. 2013. Monetary Union, Fiscal Crisis and the Disabling of Democratic Accountability. In A. Schäfer and W. Streeck eds. Politics in the Age of Austerity, pp.108-142. Cambridge: Polity.
  69. Schellinger, A. ed. 2017. Brain drain-Brain gain: European Labour market in Times of Crisis, Friedrich Ebert Stifung.
  70. Scott, R. H. and Pressman, S. 2011. A Double Squeeze on the Middle-class. Journal of Economic Issues, 45 (2), pp. 333-342.
  71. Simonazzi, A. and Barbieri, T. 2016. The Middle-class in Italy: Reshuffling, Erosion, Polarisation. In D. Vaughan-Whitehead ed. Europe’s Disappearing Middle-class? Evidence from the World of Wor, pp. 360-389. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  72. Simonazzi, A. and Ginzburg, A. 2015. The Interruption of Industrialization in Southern Europe: a Center-Periphery Perspective. In M. Baumeister and R. Sala eds. Southern Europe?: Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece from the 1950s Until the Present day, pp.103-137. Frankfurt-on-Main: CampusVerlag.
  73. Sotiropoulos, D. 2004. Democratization, Administrative Reform and the State in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain: Is There a ‘Model’ of South European Bureaucracy? Discussion Paper 17, The Hellenic Observatory-The European Institute-London School of Economics and Political Science.
  74. Steijn, B., Berting, J. and de Jong, M.J. eds. 1998. Economic Restructuring and the Growing Uncertainty of the Middle-Class. New York: Springer.
  75. Streeck, W. 2013. Bying Time: The delayed crisis of democratic capitalism. London, New York: Verso.
  76. – 2017. The Rise of European Consolidation State. In H. Magara ed. PolicyChange under New Democratic Capitalism, pp. 27-46. London: Routledge.
  77. Symeonidou, H. 1996. Social Protection in Contemporary Greece. Southern European Society and Politics, 1(3), pp. 67-86.
  78. Tavora, I. 2012. The Southern European Social Model: Familialism and the High Rates of Female Employment in Portugal. Journal of European Social Policy, 22(1), pp. 63-76.
  79. Teney, C. and Siemsen, P. 2017. Germany: A Major Intra-EU Brain Gain Country?. In A. Schellinger ed. Brain Drain-Brain Gain: European Labour Market in Times of Crisis, pp 12-21. Bonn: Friedrich Ebert Stifung.
  80. Theodoropoulou, S. 2015. National Social and Labour Market Policy Reforms in the Shadow of EU Bail-Out Conditionality: The Cases of Greece and Portugal. Comparative European Politics, 13(1), pp. 29-55.
  81. Thewissen, S., Kenworthy, L., Nolan, B., Roser, M. and Smeeding, T. 2015. Rising Income Inequality and Living Standards in OECD Countries: How Does the Middle Fare? Luxembourg: Luxembourg Income Study Working Paper Series, No. 656.
  82. Trifiletti, R. 1999. Southern European Welfare Regimes and the Worsening Position of Women. Journal of European Social Policy, 9(1), pp. 49-64.
  83. Vaughan-Whitehead, D. ed. 2016. Europe’s Disappearing Middle-class? Evidence from the World of Work. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  84. Vaughan-Whitehead, D., Vazquez-Alvarez, R. and Maître, N. 2016. Is the World of Work Behind Middle-Class Erosion?. In D. Vaughan-Whitehead ed. Europe’s Disappearing Middle-class? Evidence from the World of Work, pp. 1-48. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  85. Verney, S. and Bosco, A. 2013. Living Parallel Lives: Italy and Greece in an Age of Austerity. South European Society and Politics, 18(4), pp. 397-426.
  86. Wise, P. 2015. Portugal Divided by Austerity. Financial Times, 1st December. Available from: https://www.ft.com/content/4a0a2c44-8489-11e5-8095ed1a37d1e096 [Accessed 31st May 2017].
  87. World Bank. 2017. World Development Indicators Database. Washington, DC: World Bank.

  • Rattling Europe’s ordoliberal ‘iron cage’: the contestation of austerity in Southern Europe Theodoros Papadopoulos, Antonios Roumpakis, in Critical Social Policy /2018 pp.505
    DOI: 10.1177/0261018318766987
  • Family as a Socio‐economic Actor in the Political Economies of East and South East Asian Welfare Capitalisms Theodoros Papadopoulos, Antonios Roumpakis, in Social Policy & Administration /2017 pp.857
    DOI: 10.1111/spol.12336

Theo Papadopoulos, Antonios Roumpakis, The erosion of southern Europe’s middle-classes: debt, insecurity and the political economy of austerity in "SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI" 2/2017, pp 67-89, DOI: 10.3280/SP2017-002005