Austerity arose in response to mass political challenge to capitalism itself

Evidence

Austerity as it is known today was an off spring of crisis— not merely economic crisis, but crisis of capitalism as a socioeconomic system. Th e preceding chapters have shown that aft er the war, for the fi rst time, the challenge to the pillars of capitalist accumulation became a mass phenomenon. Th e working classes acquired a sense of entitlement and participated as protagonists in the political scene. In the minds of the people, private ownership in the means of production and wage relations were no longer natural, indisputable givens. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 798

Categorization

• XREF: Directly connects to Mattei’s broader thesis of austerity as class weapon; builds the causal chain from working-class mobilization to technocratic response. — connects to: Austerity stems from societies unable to agree on tax distribution — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 623; Austerity debates only emerge once states grow large enough to cut. — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 69; A tiny economy’s crisis was weaponized as a metaphor for austerity — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 202 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Capitalism’s 1918-20 crisis triggered austerity as a counterrevolutionary reaction. #corroborates (0.95) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 115
• Austerity operates as capitalism’s counteroffensive against democratically empowered labor. #corroborates (0.92) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1547
• Austerity originated after World War I as a counteroffensive against working-class unrest #corroborates (0.90) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 28