Research Information System
JOURNAL OF SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN AND BLACK SEA STUDIES, vol.23, no.4, pp.945-947, 2023 (SSCI)
It may come as a surprise to many, but austerity policies are not only harmful for society but also negatively impact ecology. This groundbreaking book provides an excellent account of how this happens. By establishing an analytical link between austerity policies and environmental degradation for the first time, the book edited by Rita Calvario, Maria Kaika, and Giorgos Velegrakis manages to achieve what none have done so far: an illustration of why austerity policies cause environmental degradation and environmentally uneven practices. The contradictory relationship between capitalism and environmental protection has already been extensively documented. What this engaging book does, however, is to detail why specifically austerity policies, e.g., government spending cuts, privatizations, and reductions in health, education, and retirement benefits for fiscal discipline, are harmful to the environment. Using examples from diverse geographies, including Catalonia, British Columbia, Ecuador, Australia, Portugal, Italy, and Greece, the book makes a significant contribution to both the disciplines of political ecology and political economy.