Austerity’s survival proves capitalist realism persists

Evidence

Austerity, after all, is the deflated yet intransigent form that capitalist realism has assumed since the bank crises. Before the bank crises, capitalist realism managed to look as if it were a post-political condition — not a particular ideological constellation, just the way things were. It’s no longer able to sustain that post-political mask. But if capitalist realism were actually finished, then there wouldn’t be any austerity at all; it’s only because people continue to accept that there is no alternative, not only to capitalism, but to neoliberal capitalism, that the swinging cuts that have been imposed in the name of austerity have gone through. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2228

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader capitalist-realism literature, especially the argument that austerity depends on ideological acceptance of no-alternative, not on economic necessity. — connects to: Austerity measures intensified capitalist realism by presuming there was no alternative to capitalism. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 2205; Austerity persists as an ideology that resists empirical refutation — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 613; Austerity is economically irrational yet politically rational for preserving capitalism (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Capitalist realism is belief in capital’s invincibility, not belief in its merits #expands (0.88) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2219
• Austerity persists as an ideology that resists empirical refutation #expands (0.86) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 613
• Austerity is economically irrational yet politically rational for preserving capitalism #expands (0.82)
• Austerity-bred consensus sustains further austerity in a self-reinforcing loop #expands (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 235
• Austerity was capitalism’s manufactured response to worker challenges #expands (0.78) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 585
• Austerity’s real function is permanent structural extraction from many to few #qualifies (0.76) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 657