Existential Threat to Common Values or Turn to Sustainability? Scrutinizing the Implications of Austerity for the State, the Society, and the Individual

Abstract

Today’s Western societies are at least theoretically based on common basic values such as solidarity, social justice, security, and social cohesion. But in recent times, policy-making in general and traditional practices of welfare and the provision of public goods and services in particular are increasingly challenged by a sharp tightening of available resources in many members of this ‘community of values’. This can be attributed to policy approaches resorting to cutting down government expenditures in the face of an economic crisis, but at the same time has to be seen as an expression of a particular self-understanding or even ideology of a society. Taking a closer look we see that various notions of austerity exist, ranging from the narrow interpretation as a means of budget consolidation to the idea of austerity as an all-encompassing social utopia or dystopia that goes far beyond mere spending cuts. The aim of this panel is to emphasize the juxtaposition of possible positive aspects of austerity like efficiency gains (when applying a narrow understanding of austerity) or a focus on sustainability, which can possibly pave the way to a post-growth-society (when taking a broad view), and negative consequences creating insecurity in various policy fields, possibly endangering the fundamental cohesion of Western societies, and ultimately leading to a purely Neoliberal society. Our discussion about these points will include the following contributions: After a normative reflection on the moral dilemma of austerity and the question of its inevitability (Albrecht/Roberts) the papers will address the strained relationships between narrow and wide understandings of austerity on the one hand and its positive or negative meanings on the other by drawing attention to (inter-)national security (Platzer/Ridder/Thomala), infrastructure (Winkelmann), public health (Niedermeier/Paulick), and science (Beneker/Plöger) and the implications of these on the triad of the state, the society, and the individual.

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