Struggles for Hegemony in Italy’s Crisis Management: A Case Study on the 2012 Labour Market Reform

Description

This book investigates the struggles for hegemony, and a possible ‘crisis of crisis management’ at the core of Italy’s political economy. With a specific focus on the conflict over the 2012 labour market reform, the book also explores the country’s trajectory in the area of economic and social reproduction. It presents a framework for critical policy analysis that draws on cultural political economy and explores its potential synergies with complementary approaches such as historical materialist policy analysis and critical discourse analysis. Readers will gain an understanding of crisis dynamics in the aftermath of 2008, and insights into related political reactions. The book will also help them develop the analytical tools needed to make sense of these puzzling phenomena. Front Matter ....Pages i-xii Introduction (Daniela Caterina)....Pages 1-14 Front Matter ....Pages 15-15 Between Semiosis and Materiality: Theoretical Cornerstones (Daniela Caterina)....Pages 17-39 Investigating Hegemony Struggles: A Transdisciplinary Research Framework in Three Steps (Daniela Caterina)....Pages 41-56 Front Matter ....Pages 57-57 Between Continuity and Change in Italy’s Political Economy (Daniela Caterina)....Pages 59-76 Shifting Patterns in Italy’s Function of Social Reproduction: From Welfare to Workfare (Daniela Caterina)....Pages 77-100 Italy’s Political Economy Between Crisis and Crisis Management (Daniela Caterina)....Pages 101-123 Italy’s Function of Social Reproduction in Times of Crisis (Daniela Caterina)....Pages 125-143 Front Matter ....Pages 145-145 Conflicting Political Projects in the Debate over the 2012 Labour Market Reform (Daniela Caterina)....Pages 147-205 From Political Projects to Hegemony Projects in the Crisis (Daniela Caterina)....Pages 207-285 Conclusions (Daniela Caterina)....Pages 287-300