https://toarcheio.org To Archeio project site Thu, 30 Apr 2020 15:12:54 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 https://toarcheio.org/items/who-loses-and-who-wins-in-a-housing-crisis-lessons-from-spain-and-greece-for-a-nuanced-understanding-of-dispossession/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:53 +0000 http://arc.local/items/who-loses-and-who-wins-in-a-housing-crisis-lessons-from-spain-and-greece-for-a-nuanced-understanding-of-dispossession/ Continued]]> The emerging postcrisis geographies in Southern Europe are intrinsically related to debt and dispossession. In Spain, mortgage homeownership and indebtedness led to housing dispossessions, while in Greece, skyrocketing private indebtedness is eventually arranged through housing foreclosures. Building upon the notion of accumulation by dispossession, i.e., on the way capital accumulates wealth in the era of neoliberal globalization, this article elaborates two novel concepts to understand the housing crises in both countries. The perception of dispossession by odious taxation describes the process of wealth extraction facilitated by financial mechanisms in Greece, and dispossession by political fraud is conceived as a characterization of fraudulent political arrangements and financial tools used for orchestrating housing stealth in Spain. This nurtures the perception that a comparative insight on the processes of dispossession in the Spanish and Greek housing markets may facilitate a nuanced understanding over the interrelated processes of contemporary housing restructuring.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/fiscal-politics-in-time-pathways-to-fiscal-consolidation-in-ireland-greece-britain-and-spain-1980-2012/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:32 +0000 http://arc.local/items/fiscal-politics-in-time-pathways-to-fiscal-consolidation-in-ireland-greece-britain-and-spain-1980-2012/ Continued]]> The comparative study of debt and fiscal consolidation has acquired a new focus in the wake of the global financial crisis. This paper re-evaluates the literature on fiscal consolidation that flourished during the 1980s and 1990s. The conventional approach to explanation is based on segmenting episodes of fiscal change into discrete observations. We argue that this misses the dynamic features of government strategy, especially in the choices made between expenditure-based and revenue-based fiscal consolidation strategies. We propose a focus on pathways rather than episodes of adjustment, to capture what Pierson terms ‘politics in time’. A case-study approach facilitates analysis of complex causality that includes the structures of interest intermediation, the role of ideas in shaping the set of feasible policy choices, and the situation of national economies in the international political economy. We support our argument with qualitative data based on two case studies, Ireland and Greece, and with additional paired comparisons of Ireland with Britain, and Greece with Spain. Our conclusions suggest that the conventional literature, by excluding key political variables from consideration, may distort our understanding and result in misleading policy prescription.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/south-european-healthcare-systems-under-harsh-austerity-a-progress-regression-mix/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:29 +0000 http://arc.local/items/south-european-healthcare-systems-under-harsh-austerity-a-progress-regression-mix/ Continued]]> This article addresses the question of whether the economic crisis provides a politically opportune time to drastically curtail public healthcare in South Europe or whether, instead, there are signs of longer-term reform strategies for potentially balancing fiscal targets with the quest for enhanced value and health outcomes, when eventually growth resumes. After a brief examination of the profile of healthcare systems in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain prior to the crisis, we comparatively assess the mix of retrenchment, restructuring and recalibration strategies. The effects of the austerity-driven reforms on current (and expected) health outcomes are also briefly analysed. We conclude with reflections on the future of public healthcare in South Europe.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/the-distributional-impact-of-austerity-and-the-recession-in-southern-europe/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:28 +0000 http://arc.local/items/the-distributional-impact-of-austerity-and-the-recession-in-southern-europe/ Continued]]> Southern European welfare states are under stress. On the one hand, the recession has been causing unemployment to rise and incomes to fall. On the other hand, austerity has affected the capacity of welfare states to protect those affected. This paper assesses the distributional implications of the crisis in Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal from 2009 to 2013. Using a microsimulation model, we disentangle the first-order effects of tax–benefit policies from the broader effects of the crisis, and estimate how its burden has been shared across income groups. We conclude by discussing the methodological pitfalls and policy implications of our research.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/crisis-and-creativity-the-new-cinemas-of-portugal-greece-and-spain/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:27 +0000 http://arc.local/items/crisis-and-creativity-the-new-cinemas-of-portugal-greece-and-spain/ Continued]]> This article examines the new cinemas, film cultures and discourses emerging from
three of the film-producing nations most adversely affected by the Eurozone crisis.
Through case studies arising from Portugal, Greece and Spain, the article explores the
enhanced visibility of independent film-making at a time in which the role and the
very survival of the state-subsidized film industries in recession Europe has been
crucially thrown into question. This comparative analysis suggests, conversely, the
cyclical nature of the discourse of crisis and explores the creative responses mobilized
by European cinema.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/reconceptualizing-social-work-in-times-of-crisis-an-examination-of-the-cases-of-greece-spain-and-portugal/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:25 +0000 http://arc.local/items/reconceptualizing-social-work-in-times-of-crisis-an-examination-of-the-cases-of-greece-spain-and-portugal/ Continued]]> What started as a peripheral banking crisis in 2008 within five years triggered the deepest recession Europe has seen in decades, escalating to manifold socio-political crises. Under these circumstances, many social workers find themselves in a situation of extreme pressure and insecurity. Traditional theories and orthodox practices are now challenged by frontline social workers. This article explores such a ‘reconceptualization’ process, evaluating recent developments and changes in Spanish, Portuguese and Greek social work. We argue that the current crisis has generated a profound (re)politicization of social workers which leads to the redefinition of the core values and principles of social work.

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