Limits and Possibilities of Resistance

This chapter looks at reactions to austerity by labour, social movements, and political parties, and, in some cases, the impact of these contradictory interactions on the political system itself through the rise of populist parties. It surveys two types of resistance: defensive activities, carried out primarily by trade unions; and campaigns, often including unions but also a range of broader social movements. Campaigns focused frequently on quite specific aspects of austerity. However, these later evolved into general challenges to austerity, the consequences of which were the destabilization of political systems in Spain and Ireland, and greater political space, however confined, for alternatives to austerity. Finally, the chapter examines the impacts of austerity and resistance within the formal political realm of left and right populist parties.