Tales of Fragmented Hegemony: The Disciplining of Labor, Redundant People and the Authoritarian Re-Configuration of Neoliberalism

Abstract

This chapter outlines a socioeconomic framework that builds on conceptions of hegemony and authoritarian neoliberalism in order to analyse and to link the various intertwined processes marking the authoritarian policy shift in the EU. While economic necessity serves as the overarching mantra, the disciplining of households and member states’ budgets through austerity policy measures intensified in the aftermath of battling the 2008 crisis and eventually led to an overemphasis of authoritarian elements in policy-making as well as on the level of negotiating social consensus. On the societal level, austerity and the amplification of authoritarian policies and discourses have led to increasing levels of radicalization due to an increasing lack of prospects, the widespread diffusion of economistic imperatives, and the subsequent formation of new societal groups within an environment of constant economic insecurity.