The Zombie Economy and the Aesthetic of Austerity
This article explores the present-day zombie economy as the embodiment of the aesthetic of austerity in Anglo-America. It uses the zombie monster metaphor to capture the multi-scalar manifestations of crisis under conditions of enduring austerity in unique ways. The theme of undeath, or living death...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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2019-04-01
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| Series: | Angles |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/angles/582 |
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| author | Ruth Cain Johnna Montgomerie |
| author_facet | Ruth Cain Johnna Montgomerie |
| author_sort | Ruth Cain |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article explores the present-day zombie economy as the embodiment of the aesthetic of austerity in Anglo-America. It uses the zombie monster metaphor to capture the multi-scalar manifestations of crisis under conditions of enduring austerity in unique ways. The theme of undeath, or living death, connects ‘dead’ economic ideas that are reanimated through the zombie economy to the logic of ‘there is no alternative’ (TINA). Moreover, the zombie monster permits a visceral connection between the harm inflicted on people’s physical and mental health and the underlying set of values perpetuated by austerity. It is the crisis at the scale of the body that manifests as the zombie macroeconomy of austerity. The contribution of this paper is that it articulates the aesthetic of austerity as the troubled boundary between what is alive and what is dead, which in a corporeal form is an absolute binary, but in political-economic terms is currently in flux. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dec3017170194200b587a772497d3e1d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2274-2042 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-04-01 |
| publisher | SAES |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Angles |
| spelling | doaj-art-dec3017170194200b587a772497d3e1d2025-08-20T02:33:07ZengSAESAngles2274-20422019-04-01810.4000/angles.582The Zombie Economy and the Aesthetic of AusterityRuth CainJohnna MontgomerieThis article explores the present-day zombie economy as the embodiment of the aesthetic of austerity in Anglo-America. It uses the zombie monster metaphor to capture the multi-scalar manifestations of crisis under conditions of enduring austerity in unique ways. The theme of undeath, or living death, connects ‘dead’ economic ideas that are reanimated through the zombie economy to the logic of ‘there is no alternative’ (TINA). Moreover, the zombie monster permits a visceral connection between the harm inflicted on people’s physical and mental health and the underlying set of values perpetuated by austerity. It is the crisis at the scale of the body that manifests as the zombie macroeconomy of austerity. The contribution of this paper is that it articulates the aesthetic of austerity as the troubled boundary between what is alive and what is dead, which in a corporeal form is an absolute binary, but in political-economic terms is currently in flux.https://journals.openedition.org/angles/582neoliberalismzombie economyausterityaesthetichealthmental illness |
| spellingShingle | Ruth Cain Johnna Montgomerie The Zombie Economy and the Aesthetic of Austerity Angles neoliberalism zombie economy austerity aesthetic health mental illness |
| title | The Zombie Economy and the Aesthetic of Austerity |
| title_full | The Zombie Economy and the Aesthetic of Austerity |
| title_fullStr | The Zombie Economy and the Aesthetic of Austerity |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Zombie Economy and the Aesthetic of Austerity |
| title_short | The Zombie Economy and the Aesthetic of Austerity |
| title_sort | zombie economy and the aesthetic of austerity |
| topic | neoliberalism zombie economy austerity aesthetic health mental illness |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/angles/582 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ruthcain thezombieeconomyandtheaestheticofausterity AT johnnamontgomerie thezombieeconomyandtheaestheticofausterity AT ruthcain zombieeconomyandtheaestheticofausterity AT johnnamontgomerie zombieeconomyandtheaestheticofausterity |