This thesis examines the crisis policies of the ‘troika’ institutions to Greece in the context of the Eurozone crisis. The neoliberal policies of fiscal austerity and internal devaluation...Show moreThis thesis examines the crisis policies of the ‘troika’ institutions to Greece in the context of the Eurozone crisis. The neoliberal policies of fiscal austerity and internal devaluation prescribed by the troika had a strong contractionary impact which resulted in a prolonged recession of the Greek economy. For this reason, the research question of this study is to what extent the IMF, the EC and the ECB have been questioning the appropriateness of the prescribed crisis policies to Greece. Building on neo-Gramscian theory, the causal mechanism claims that the hegemony of neoliberalism within the troika institutions conditions a specific diagnosis of the Eurozone crisis and hence a specific set of policy responses. Analysing the positions on central dimensions of neoliberalism with regard to financial crises, a striking persistence of neoliberal policies is observed. In light of neo-Gramscian theory, this observation suggests that the first grand systemic crisis of the 21st century has not seen the rise of a challenging counter-hegemonic ideology. It also suggests that the transmittance of ideological change from global to regional economic governance is not necessarily instant. It is thus fundamental to advocate strong alternatives to neoliberalism which could bring the long reign of neoliberalism and international finance to an end.Show less
