Reconstituting Iceland — and the New Critical Order

Abstract

The Crash of 2008 not only was a severe financial crisis but also served a devastating blow to Icelandic politics. Key government institutions stood accused of having sponsored the rise and collapse of the failed neoliberal model. This was a crisis of capitalism, which opened new opportunities for political reform in addition to the economic recovery discussed in previous chapter. In the wake of the crisis and the following Pots and Pans Revolution, many initiatives were embarked upon to not only resurrect the failed model but also to implement more permanent changes to the political system. There was a clear popular call for political reform; a New Iceland was to emerge from the ruins. Many non-governmental groupings were founded, and they deliberated and promoted different avenues out of the crisis. Ordinary people not only took to the streets in protest in the wake of The Crash but also engaged much more actively than before in public discussion — in the mainstream media as well as on blogs and through social media outlets. Many called for the establishment of Iceland’s Second Republic or, in data lingo, the updating of the system to Iceland 2.0.