Commodification and ‘the commons’: the politics of privatising public water in Greece and Portugal during the Eurozone Crisis

In response to the Eurozone crisis, austerity and restructuring has been imposed on the European Union’s (EU) peripheral member states in order to receive financial bailout loans. In addition to cuts in funding of essential public services, cuts in public sector employment and further liberalisation...

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Main Authors: Bieler, Andreas, Jordan, Jamie
Format: Article
Published: SAGE 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45612/
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author Bieler, Andreas
Jordan, Jamie
author_facet Bieler, Andreas
Jordan, Jamie
author_sort Bieler, Andreas
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description In response to the Eurozone crisis, austerity and restructuring has been imposed on the European Union’s (EU) peripheral member states in order to receive financial bailout loans. In addition to cuts in funding of essential public services, cuts in public sector employment and further liberalisation of labour markets, this has also included pressure towards the privatisation of state assets. And yet, workers have not simply accepted these restructuring pressures. They have organised and fought back against austerity and enforced privatisation. Based on a historical materialist perspective and following a strategy of incorporated comparison, in this paper we will comparatively assess the struggles against enforced water privatisation in Greece and Portugal set against the background of the structuring conditions surrounding the Eurozone crisis.
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spelling nottingham-456122020-05-04T19:08:14Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45612/ Commodification and ‘the commons’: the politics of privatising public water in Greece and Portugal during the Eurozone Crisis Bieler, Andreas Jordan, Jamie In response to the Eurozone crisis, austerity and restructuring has been imposed on the European Union’s (EU) peripheral member states in order to receive financial bailout loans. In addition to cuts in funding of essential public services, cuts in public sector employment and further liberalisation of labour markets, this has also included pressure towards the privatisation of state assets. And yet, workers have not simply accepted these restructuring pressures. They have organised and fought back against austerity and enforced privatisation. Based on a historical materialist perspective and following a strategy of incorporated comparison, in this paper we will comparatively assess the struggles against enforced water privatisation in Greece and Portugal set against the background of the structuring conditions surrounding the Eurozone crisis. SAGE 2017-09-22 Article PeerReviewed Bieler, Andreas and Jordan, Jamie (2017) Commodification and ‘the commons’: the politics of privatising public water in Greece and Portugal during the Eurozone Crisis. European Journal of International Relations . ISSN 1460-3713 Eurozone crisis Greece Portugal privatisation resistance water struggles http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1354066117728383 doi:10.1177/1354066117728383 doi:10.1177/1354066117728383
spellingShingle Eurozone crisis
Greece
Portugal
privatisation
resistance
water struggles
Bieler, Andreas
Jordan, Jamie
Commodification and ‘the commons’: the politics of privatising public water in Greece and Portugal during the Eurozone Crisis
title Commodification and ‘the commons’: the politics of privatising public water in Greece and Portugal during the Eurozone Crisis
title_full Commodification and ‘the commons’: the politics of privatising public water in Greece and Portugal during the Eurozone Crisis
title_fullStr Commodification and ‘the commons’: the politics of privatising public water in Greece and Portugal during the Eurozone Crisis
title_full_unstemmed Commodification and ‘the commons’: the politics of privatising public water in Greece and Portugal during the Eurozone Crisis
title_short Commodification and ‘the commons’: the politics of privatising public water in Greece and Portugal during the Eurozone Crisis
title_sort commodification and ‘the commons’: the politics of privatising public water in greece and portugal during the eurozone crisis
topic Eurozone crisis
Greece
Portugal
privatisation
resistance
water struggles
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45612/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45612/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45612/