Seminar by Janne Autto: the politics of austerity and what we learned from it

Time: 19 April 2023 — 15:00-16:30

Location: Queen Mary University of London (GC 102) and online

After the financial crisis in 2007–2008 most of the countries were running significant budget deficits. States developed much criticised austerity policies in order to create economic growth and to stop the growth of public debt. Finland is considered as an exceptional case among austerity countries because it, alongside with the UK, voluntarily chose austerity measures. Besides, the country’s status as a Nordic welfare state with extensive social rights and public services had been taken with pride in political and public discussions. Austerity measures were criticised as a move away from this successful path.

The presentation focuses on what austerity is, how it landed in Finland in 2010s and what it meant from the perspectives of economy, democracy, social justice and ecological carrying capacity. In addition, I consider what lessons from it should be remembered now that state debts have increased and signs of financial turbulence are strongly present again. The presentation is based on a recently published edited book, which examines last decade of austerity from multiple perspectives, including political history, economics, media studies, sociology, gender studies, social policy and environmental economics.

Register now

To attend in person: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-politics-of-austerity-and-what-we-learned-from-it-tickets-598457260777

To attend online: https://qmul-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/5556388362

Janne Autto is an Associate Professor in sociology at the University of Lapland (Finland). His work focuses on political struggles over welfare state and citizens’ social rights and responsibilities as well as on governmental aspirations and resistance to them. His intellectual home is in cultural theory, the major directions of interest being Bourdieusian and Foucauldian thinking, British cultural studies and French pragmatic sociology. In addition, he has a strong interest in qualitative research methods, in particular the use of semiotic sociology and narrative research. Janne Autto has worked as editor-in-chief in Sosiologia (the Finnish journal of sociology published by the Westermarck Society), and he is a board member of the Nordic Sociological Association (NSA).

Janne Autto’s recent publications include:

Autto, J. (ed.) (2023) Talouskuri tuli Suomeen [Austerity arrived to Finland]. Tampere: Vastapaino

Autto, J. Törrönen, J. & Huysmans, J. (2022) Fear and insecurity in the politics of austerity. European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology 9:1, 83–111.

Autto, J. & Törrönen, J. (2019) ‘Yes, but all responsible Finns want to stop living on credit’: Feeling rules in the Finnish politics of austerity. Citizenship Studies 23:1, 78–95.

Autto, J. & Törrönen, J. (2017) Justifications of citizens’ subject positions in public debates on welfare. Acta Sociologica 60:1, 61–73.

Autto, J. (2015) ‘When policymakers and parents meet political discourses: Fields and subject positions in the Finnish debates on children’s day care’. Social Politics 23:1, 94–118.