Beyond Scarcity: Building Post-Capitalist Alternatives to Austerity | SAPE Lecture Series

Why does the "logical" solution to every economic crisis always involve cutting services for the many to protect the few? In this session of the Series for Advanced Political Economy (SAPE), Clara Mattei, Peter Bloom, and Pedro Rossi dismantle the myths of austerity.

They reveal that austerity isn't just a "budgetary choice"—it is a deliberate political weapon used to discipline workers and open new markets for an "authoritarian financial complex." From the privatized data systems of the UK’s NHS to the rise of the far-right in Brazil, learn how the commodification of our anxiety fuels modern capitalism.

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Speakers:

Peter Bloom (University of Essex) on the "Authoritarian Financial Complex" and the rise of extractive data economies.

Pedro Rossi (UNICAMP/Global Fund for the New Economy) on the historical impact of fiscal austerity in Brazil and the Global South.

Moderator: Clara Mattei

📘 Organized by SOAS/School of London in partnership with the New School for Social Research, FREE (Forum for Real Economic Emancipation), and the General Federation of Trade Unions.

⏰ All SAPE sessions are completely free and open to all.

Wednesdays, 6–8 PM UK, 1–3 PM ET, 12–2 PM CT

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Key Topics Covered:

• Why the state "household" analogy is an economic lie.

• Austerity as a tool for redistribution from the working class to the elite.

• The link between economic precarity and the rise of nativism/authoritarianism.

• Moving toward a "Politics of Abundance" and the Commons.

#PoliticalEconomy #Economics #Capitalism #Austerity #EconomicJustice #SocialJustice #WealthInequality #WorkingClass