Mediating the Cost-of-Living Crisis: The Meaning of a ‘Keyphrase’ in UK Contemporary Cultural Discourse

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In this article, we draw on Raymond Williams’ notion of ‘keywords’ and Neil Davidson’s conceptualisation of ‘crisis neoliberalism’ to understand how the ‘cost-of-living’ crisis has become a ‘keyphrase’ which sustains, legitimates, reproduces and provides space for a potential challenge to the current social settlement. We draw on illustrative examples from across the UK media – including the ideological construction and naming of crises, Martin Lewis as the leading cost-of-living crisis (COLC) celebrity, discourses around ‘fiscal responsibility’ and the promotion of a socialisation of struggle – to show how mediations of the COLC relate to the current conjuncture, and its priorities. Finally, we argue that because the COLC draws in those newly struggling who are used to having a public voice, the COLC opens up a potentiality in respect of challenge to the hegemonic project of neoliberalism, rather than producing a rerun of the 2007–2008 post-crash landscape in which a coherent financialised media class consolidated to close down all possible alternatives.