Original scientific paper
Deconstructing the Profligacy Myth Using Critical Theory and Social Constructivism: The Case of Greece and Its Wider Socio-economic and Political Consequences
Kristijan Kotarski
orcid.org/0000-0001-9500-6760
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
This article is aimed at deconstructing the widely spread view according to
many media outlets, policy analysts and commentators that the Greek crisis
and the subsequent eurocrisis is the result of generous social welfare benefits
and fiscal spending irresponsibility on the part of Greek politicians and citizens.
The lesson to be drawn from this analysis is multifold. In attempting to
do so, I will use critical theory of international relations in order to dissect the
very structure of the EMU which inevitably led to the build-up of trade and fiscal
imbalances in the EU’s periphery as a first theoretical line of argumentation
in contesting this view. The second theoretical line of argumentation focuses
on social constructivism and its credentials in dealing with the underlying issue
of “Greek profligacy”. The diffusion of conservative attitudes regarding
social welfare is put into the broader context of “new constitutionalism” and
neoliberal politics. The application of both theories is aimed at identifying basic
culprits which brought about the deadly mix of European banking crisis and
sovereign debt crisis, and thereby points to a necessary change in policy stance
toward “PIIGS” countries and the very foundation of the EMU.
Keywords
critical theory; social constructivism; EMU; eurozone crisis; Greek profligacy; embedded neoliberalism
Hrčak ID:
84609
URI
Publication date:
6.6.2012.
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