Europe: Women, Austerity, and Politics
The economic crisis of 2008 has had deep effects everywhere. In Europe, the consequences have been dramatic, bringing disturbing political changes to some countries, social turmoil to others, and economic hardship to many. Women have been especially hard hit during these past few years. In this section, we look at three different countries to see how their history and politics have shaped the impact of the crisis and the responses to it. Özlem İlyas Tolunay examines the recent policies of the Erdoğan government in Turkey and how these have affected women. Susan Pashkoff offers an analysis of austerity measures in Britain, and the particular burden on women. Stefanie Prezioso surveys the situation in Italy as Berlusconi leaves the scene.
In this symposium:
In March 2010, a few months before his death, Mario Monicelli, the unforgettable director of the 1958 caper film Big Deal on Madonna Street (I soliti ignoti), was interviewed live on Michele Santoro’s program “Rai per una notte.”2 Disillusioned, Monicelli sketched the portrait of a subdued country, an Italy overcome with fear, which he then followed with expressing the hope of “a real blow [to the system], a revolution, something Italy has never experienced,” because, according to him, redemption only comes from sacrifice and
Since the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition came into power in Britain in 2010, there has been a vicious attack on both the public sector and the social welfare state that is being justified as a response to the “high deficit.” Austerity is being introduced for two related reasons. First, the low profitability and resulting stagnation following the economic crisis of 2008 led employers to squeeze wages in order to keep profits up.
During the last ten years, a new Turkey has been created. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has begun the establishment of an authoritarian regime built upon Sunni Islamic principles and neoliberal economics. We are in an era where the two have combined to create the worst of all worlds for women.
