Expert austerity framing blocked post-war moves toward economic democracy

Evidence

The vital role of austerity becomes glaringly apparent when the economic system enters a crisis. True crises of capitalism, far more than mere slowdowns in economic growth, are moments when the majority questions the pillars of our economy: private ownership of the means of production and wage labor. In the aftermath of the Great War, significant portions of the population in countries such as Britain and Italy were embracing concrete institutional transformations. What halted the transition toward greater economic democracy was an expert-driven campaign to code austerity as an objective resolution to the crisis of capitalism. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 161

Categorization

• SEED: A strong angle: ‘the brief window of economic democracy’ after WWI and how expert discourse closed it — applicable to today’s post-crisis moments.
• XREF: connects to: Austerity is not a coherent doctrine but derivative of scattered state-role beliefs — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 66; Post-WWI austerity was deployed to block moves toward economic democracy. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 161; Interwar austerity conferences aimed to crush postwar visions of social emancipation. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 663 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Post-WWI austerity was deployed to block moves toward economic democracy. #expands (0.95) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 161