Austerity as enclosure: how austerity in Ireland after the global financial crisis acts as a method of inclusion and exclusion

<p>This thesis argues that the austerity policies in Ireland after the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis acted as a form of second enclosure and increased economic inequality. This thesis uses a Marxian critique of neoliberal market society to analyze the policies enacted after the 2010 Irish Bailout. I situated the concept of enclosure within liberal hegemony arguing that enclosure must be conceptualized as a method of inclusion and exclusion. In addition, I connect Ireland’s history of enclosure with the power relation between land ownership and capital accumulation. I contextualize Ireland’s austerity policies within the neoliberal project and Ireland’s membership in the European Union. Framing the bailout within these two contexts, I examine how these austerity policies act as a form of austerity through the inclusion and exclusion of the “common good” of welfare. I use Irish Travellers as an example of those excluded, as they are one of the most marginalized groups within Irish Society. Finally, I examine counter-hegemonic resistance centered on inequality in the form of newly create political parties. Understanding austerity as a recurring historical process uncovers the power dynamics reproduced within capitalist expansion and centers the discussion on the institutions creating these policies of inclusion and exclusion.</p>

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

International Studies

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Soto, Taylor

• Ireland
• austerity
• enclosure
• 2007-2008 global financial crisis
• neoliberalism

Repository record dc:identifier

https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd/263

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:via.library.depaul.edu:etd-1268