Explores how UK politicians and the press mobilise support for 'austerity' through appealing to socially conservative conceptions of work and community. It examines the techniques of anti-austerity social movements in challenging the prevailing mood of guilt, nostalgia and resentment and how these may offer radical alternatives for social change.

Kirsten Forkert is a lecturer in Media Theory at Birmingham City University. Her research looks at the politics of cultural work and education. Her PhD thesis explored the conditions experienced by freelance artists in London and Berlin and serves as the basis for her first book, 'Artistic Lives' (Ashgate, 2013). She has also published on media art, activism, and the globalisation of education in several journals and edited collections. Prior to academia, Kirsten was active as a media artist, curator and critic. She has been involved in community media, media art and activist projects, including 'Video In' in Vancouver, Canada, and 'Democracy Now!' and the '16beaver Collective' in New York.

Introduction: Tightening Our Belts / Chapter 1: Austerity and the Appeal of the Past / Chapter 2: Authoritarian Populism, Traditionalism and Austerity / Chapter 3: The Mediatisation of Austerity and the Case of Benefits Street / Chapter 4: Immigration, Austerity and the Welfare State / Chapter 5: Austere creativity, community and impasses around the welfare state / Chapter 6: Trade Union Activism after the 2010 Student Protests / Chapter 7: Spaces of Solidarity / Conclusion: From Austerity to Brexit and Trump, and the Politics of the "Ordinary"